Just 124 people own most of England’s deep peat – its largest carbon store
Just 124 landowners own the majority of England’s deep peat – its single largest carbon store – new analysis has found.
From the low-lying wetlands of the Fens, to the bogs of the North York Moors, 450,000 hectares (1m acres) of peat soils store 584m tonnes of carbon, according to Natural England, equivalent to the annual emissions from 540 coal-fired power stations in the US.
England’s peatlands emit around 11m tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere every year because of degradation and draining. Improving their management and encouraging their restoration are part of the UK’s net zero strategy, and the government is aiming to restore 280,000 hectares of peatland in England by the middle of the century.
A new report by Guy Shrubsole, environmental
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