UEL peatlands research drives positive government response

The Task Force was established by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), to explore the wide range of options for sustainable future farming on lowland peat soils as part of the UK Government’s strategy for achieving net zero by 2050. UEL is the only university with representatives on the Task Force.

Mr Richard Lindsay, Head of Environmental and Conservation Research at UEL said, "I’m pleased to see in the government's response that the UK government recognises the need for supporting a whole new approach to farming on our lowland peat soils. These soils are currently regarded as some of our prime grade 1 agricultural land, but they’re also currently our largest source of land-use greenhouse-gas emissions."

Mr Lindsay, and Mr Clough, Research Assistant with the Sustainability Research Institute (SRI), served on the Task Force. Both researchers have been at the forefront of the first experimental trials of a radical new form of agriculture on peat soils - termed 'paludiculture' - in which peat soils are re-wetted and wetland species are then grown as commercially-viable crops.

UEL’s paludiculture research offers real opportunities for the future of agriculture on lowland peat soils, with projects investigating production of building board from bulrush, creating medical materials from moss and developing sweet flour from grass/sedge-beds.

The Rt Hon Thérèse Coffey, responded positively to all 14 of the recommendations set out in the report, stating, "We intend to take forward action on all the recommendations, including, where relevant, investing in research and undertaking further policy analysis to consider appropriate next steps."

The recommendations include investment in water storage, management and control, public money for wetter modes of farming on peat soils, technical advice on keeping peat soils wetter, creating viable opportunities in private finance, raising the profile of lowland agricultural peat soils and adopting the task force’s roadmap to commercially viable paludiculture (farming on rewetted peat).

As part of its commitment to action, the UK government has announced two new Water for Peat pilot schemes. The £5.45 million Lowland Agricultural Peat Small Infrastructure Pilot which will support the installation of infrastructure and monitoring technology, and the £2.2 million Lowland Agricultural Peat Water Discovery Pilot which will help to improve Defra’s understanding of how water can be better managed to support the rewetting and preservation of lowland peatlands.

The government also announced the winners of grants totalling £5 million under the Paludiculture Exploration Fund. The grants will support projects on how water levels might be raised and managed, how crop production might be increased and new products and markets that might evolve from paludiculture crops.

Mr Lindsay, said "After several centuries of encouraging farming based on 'dryland' conditions and therefore supporting the wholesale drainage of wetland soils, the government has now committed to focusing on the re-wetting of these soils to lock in their huge carbon stores. This will be done through the development of new approaches to conventional farming as well as wholly new forms of agriculture in which highly productive wetland species are grown as commercially viable crops. This is a huge win for the environment!"

When people think of peatlands they generally think of the high moorlands of upland Britain, but the majority of Britain's lowland floodplains were also originally dominated by peatland systems. Almost all of this lowland peat landscape has now vanished as they have been drained and turned to intensive agricultural use.

Mr Lindsay said, "Lowland peatlands provide some of the country’s most productive soils, playing a vital role in producing food for our nation. However, transforming this land through drainage has come at a huge environmental cost. Peat is our most carbon-rich soil, storing more carbon than all of the UK’s vegetation combined and provided it remains waterlogged it can keep doing so for thousands of years."

"Now, however, these drained agricultural peat soils represent one of the UK's largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions from any form of land use (an estimated 9 million tonnes per year) and the UK Government's 25 Year Environment Plan has identified that "Conventional agricultural production using current techniques on drained peatland is, however, inherently unsustainable."

The Task Force included representatives from across the farming community, water utility companies, a range of government agencies and science specialists.

Mr Lindsay said, "The deliberations of the Task Force represent a real coming together of knowledge and experience, particularly from those likely to be most affected by such changes, in order to map out a viable and sustainable way forward, for both the farming community and the UK's efforts to limit the effects of climate change. There are exciting possibilities ahead."

Further reading:

• Report: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lowland-agricultural-peat-task-force-chairs-report
• Response: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lowland-agricultural-peat-task-force-chairs-report-government-response
• Press notice: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-investment-in-peat-in-fight-against-climate-change