1

THE DECADE OF THE BOG 1994-2004: GLOBAL PROGRESS ON PEATLAND WISE USE AND CONSERVATION

Clayton Rubec

Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada

Ottawa, OntarioCanadaK1A 0H3

Phone +1 (819) 953-0485

Email:

Abstract

The last decade has witnessed significant progress in development of global strategies for the conservation and wise use of peatlands. We now recognize peatlands as an essential component of our wetland resources, wise use guidelines for management of peatlands and a global action plan for peatlands. There has also been progress on peatland science including ecological classification and improved criteria for identifying peatlands of international importance. This paper reviews progress on some of these initiatives and the status of the Ramsar Convention Guidelines for Global Action on Peatlands (Ramsar Convention 2002). Comments on a sustainable future for peatland resources and the role of the International Peat Society are presented.

Introduction

Since 1994, the world has finally begun to focus on the wise use and management of peatlands and their peat resource. My colleague, Richard Lindsay, noted in a special (and most eloquent) presentation in 1996 to the Ramsar Convention’s 6th Meeting of its Contracting Parties that:

“Although after 25 years of activity, the Ramsar Convention can't be said tohave failed in its objectives with regard to peatlands, it nevertheless seems to have fallen foul of one of the very problems it has spent the last 25 years trying to overcome.…Ramsar has done great things with all wetlands in the last 25 years, but the imbalanced List[of Wetlands of International Importance] suggests that perhaps it has done rather better with some wetland types than with others. To paraphrase George Orwell – ‘All wetlands are equal in the sight of Ramsar, but some are more equal than others.’ Perhaps it is not surprising that peatlands appear to have lagged behind the rest of the field. If wetlands in general were unpopular in those days, peatlands… languished at the very bottom of the popularity stakes. Unfortunately, in many parts of the world it seems that they still do. … It is our hope that …Ramsar can play a pivotal role in finally helping to draw peatlands out from the shadows to take their place, first, as one of the most extensive wetland types around the world, and,secondly, as one of the most significant in terms of the services and functions which they provide for the living biosphere of our planet.”(Lindsay 1996).

Conservation of peatlands has not always been at the forefront of public or governmental thinking. Indeed, until the early 1990s, the world seemed to be racing to relieve itself of every last hectare of bog from the surface of the planet. Fortunately, cooler heads started a decade-long initiative to draw attention to the loss of peatland resources and why this was not in any nation’s interest. The functions and natural capital values that peatlands provide to at least 60 nations of this earth were only fully recognized during this past decade.

For example, as a global society we have finally agreed that peatlands are an essential component in global reserves of stored carbon. However, there is a continuing debate on the role of carbon sequestered in peatlands compared to other wetland types, particularly in countries like Canada. Demonstrating the cultural, social, ecological and economic values of peatland resources and wise use of peatland resources is a job that still needs reinforcing and is the subject of considerable research in many nations.

We have also recognized that use of peat resources for many applications is not a universally bad thing. Peat itself is used in a sustainable manner in many nations. In Canada’s case, I believe we have achieved a model that can be transferred to some nations. Peat extraction and use is also a matter of economic and energy security as well as national policy in some nations, facts that should never be dismissed out-of-hand. However, peat extraction is not easy to justify in nations where much of the peat resource is now depleted. In North America and other peatland-rich nations, peat extraction should be carried out where the wise use principles of the Ramsar Convention can be applied − where it is thus feasible to manage peat resources for international and domestic markets. For example, there is little reason to expect gardeners worldwide to dismiss peat as a horticultural base for crops and flowers, or for greenhouse operators to stop using peat as the basis for forestry seedling cultivation.

In 1994, at an international symposium on peatlands management in Trondheim, Norway (Moen 1994), we had previously dreamed that peatlands would become a major aspect of international wetland conservation efforts. Richard Lindsay, myself and others present felt then that peatlands had to become a driving concern of the Convention on Wetlands (commonly known as the “Ramsar Convention”) and the Convention on Biological Diversity. We crafted the Trondheim Declaration at that time and wondered if the world would listen.

I think the world has listened. This paper looks at peatland conservation progress in what I will call the “decade of the bog” (1994-2004). I also wish to use this paper to suggest further enhancements to the international peatland agenda.

Global Peatlands Distribution

Peatlands are now known to be the most widespread of all wetland types in the World, representing 50 to 70% of all global wetlands (Maltby and Turner 1983; Mitsch et al. 1994; Finlayson and Spiers 1999). They cover an estimated 400 million hectares or 3% of the land and freshwater surface of the planet. In these ecosystems are found an estimated one third of the world's soil carbon and 10% of global freshwater resources (IMCG and IPS 2001). These ecosystems are global leaders in accumulating and storingorganic carbon as dead plant matter, commonly from moss, sedge, reed and tree species, as peat, under conditions of almost permanent water saturation. Peatlands occur on all the Earth’s continents (except Antarctica), from the tropical to boreal to arctic zones, from sea level to high alpine conditions (IMCG and IPS 2001). They are unusual, but important, ecosystems in unexpected places like the High Andes of South America and even Botswana in Africa. Peatlands are thus a globally distributed group of ecosystems. They are well represented in Russia, Canada and parts of the United States as well as boreal and subarctic regions of Northern and Central Europe. About 25% of all these peatlands are found in Canada alone.

Peatland area has declined in all areas of the World since 1800 through climate change and human activities, particularly by drainage for agriculture and forestry (IMCG and IPS 2001). The Secretary General of the International Peat Society (Sopo 2003) recently reflected on the global status and importance of peatlands, noting that today an estimated 80% of these ecosystems remain in a natural condition. Nevertheless, severe losses and degradation of peatlands has occurred in some areas.

The Ramsar Convention has developed guidance on the identification and designation of peatlands asWetlands of International Importance (also called “Ramsar sites”), of which there are about 1375 sites covering 123 million hectares in 141 nations (as of September 2004). Guidelines for such Ramsar sites were adopted at the Ramsar Convention’s 8th Meeting of the Contracting Parties in November 2002. The objective was to increase the representation of peatland types both globally and at a national level in the Ramsar sites network.

In 1995, peatlands were identified as an under-represented category of wetlands in this global network. Today, they still are under-represented, with less than 13% of the total number of Ramsar sites being dominated by peatlands− only a marginal increase since 1995 when 10% of the network’s sites were dominated by peatlands (Frazier 1995). In 2004, these peatland-dominated sites also represent only 4% of the global Ramsar network by surface area. In a nation with vast peatland resources like Canada, its 36 Ramsar sites are dominated by southern marshland systems, with only eight sites being peatlands despite peatlands representing over 70% of all wetlands in the nation. Like many nations, we have a long way to go if Canadawishes to protect examples of the wide range of diversity of our nation’s wetland and peatland types in this global network (Rubec and Kerr-Upal 1995).

Why Pay Attention to Peatlands?

In 2001, IMCG and IPS issued the joint Statement on Wise Use of Peatlands. The twoorganizations noted that the wise use of peatlands is essential to ensure that sufficient peatlands remain on this planet to carry out vital natural resource functions. Peat-forming wetlands are important ecosystems for a wide range of wildlife habitats supporting biological diversity and species at risk, freshwater quality and hydrological integrity, carbon storage and sequestration, and geochemical and paleo-environmental archives. In addition, they are inextricably linked to social, economic and cultural values important to human communities worldwide. Their total carbon pool is believed to exceed that of the world's forests and equal that of the atmosphere.

Drainage for resource production continues as the most important factor impacting peatlands, both globally and locally, particularly in the Tropics. Human pressures affect peatlands directly through drainage, land conversion, excavation, inundation and visitor pressure, and indirectly as a result of air pollution, water contamination, compaction through water removal, and infrastructure development. The range and importance of the diverse functions, services and resources provided by peatlands are declining with the increases in human demand for use of these ecosystems and their natural resources (IMCG and IPS 2001).

In many areas of the World, our understanding of peatland distribution, ecology and management remains deficient. However, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) has played a major role in developing understanding of tropical peatlands. IUCN published Guidelines for Integrated Planning and Management of Tropical Lowland Peatlands(Safford and Maltby 1998)focusing international attention on management issues facing these critical systems. Today, tropical peatlands remain highly vulnerable. In past years, tropical peat swamp fires affected all of Southeast Asia with heavy seasonal smoke and haze, causing billions of dollars in lost economic production, destruction of critical wildlife habitats (for high profile species such as the orangutan), destroyed critical areas of rich biodiversity, and significantly impacted human populations.These types of comprehensive guidelines do not exist in many other regions and are needed.

The Evolution of a Global Action Plan

Since 1994, there has been a strong international effort to develop awareness of the importance of peatland systems and uses of peatland resources around the World. A series of international conferences and working meetings (Rubec 1996; Lindsay 2001) led to the adoption in 1999 at the 7th Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention of a draft Global Action Plan for Peatlands (GAPP). These meetings included the Peatlands Convention held in Edinburgh, Scotland and the 6th Conference of the International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) in Trondheim, Norway, both during 1994. They resulted in seminal international declarations on the need for peatland wise use and conservation. The International Peat Society (IPS) in this period also set in motion the planning for the world’s largest non-government wetland and peatland meeting, the Millennium Wetland Event, that occurred in Quebec City, Canada in 2000.

Many organizations including the IPS, IMCG and Wetlands International played key roles in developing the Action Plan. The Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS) and the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) also made valuable contributions to this process. National governments, notably Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands and Norway, have played a facilitating role in organizing and clarifying this process.

In 2000, the Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) of the Ramsar Convention, working with Ramsar partners and the groups noted above, recast the Action Plan into theGuidelines for Global Action on Peatlands (GGAP). These Guidelines were adopted by the Ramsar Convention at its Eighth Meeting of the Contracting Parties in November 2002. This has led to considerable ongoing discussion on implementation processes and mechanisms, including a GGAP Coordination Committee (Ramsar Convention 2002). This Committee was formalized in 2003, establishing priorities within the GGAP and identifying initial funding partners for its activities. It has since met several times and is now developing a partnership including IPS interests. A full progress report on this GGAP is expected in 2005 at the Ramsar Convention9th Meeting of the Contracting Parties (now encompassing 141 nations).

Peatlands have wide international significance. Their wise use is relevant to the implementation of not only the Ramsar Convention, but the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and other international instruments and agreements. In February 2004, the CBD at its Seventh Conference of the CBD Contracting Parties adopted a revised work program on Biological Diversity of Inland Waters. For the first time, this Convention’s working bodies incorporated language on the protection of peatlands and references to peatland carbon storage in recommendations on climate change.

The Ramsar Guidelines focus on encouraging partnerships and action at the national level by Contracting Parties. The Guidelines as adopted in 2002 have several focal areas: (1) knowledge of global resources; (2) education and public awareness on peatlands; (3) policy and legislative instruments; (4) wise use of peatlands; (5) research networks, regional centres of expertise, and institutional capacity; (6) international cooperation; and (7) implementation and support.

The Guidelines provide a framework for national, regional and international initiatives to promote the development of strategies for peatland wise use, conservation, and management; guidance on mechanisms to foster national, regional and international partnerships of government, the private sector, and non-government agencies to fund and implement actions in support of such strategies; and approaches to facilitate adoption and support for implementation of global action on peatlands through the Ramsar Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Framework Convention on Climate Change, and other appropriate national, regional or international instruments.

How Are We Doing In Implementing These Guidelines?

Much has been accomplished since adoption of these Guidelines. It is anticipated that a comprehensive global review of contributions to implementation will be developed by the Ramsar Convention for its 9th Meeting of the Contracting Parties in 2005.

Two major initiatives stand out:

(a) The Peatlands Wise Use Project: In late 2002, IPS and IMCG completed a four-year project to publish a book entitled Wise Use of Mires and Peatlands Making (Joosten and Clarke 2002) requiring extensive consultation and cooperation between these two organizations. It provides extensive background on the extent, types, functions and uses of peatlands and provides an underlying rationale for wise use of peatland resources. It also presents a framework for implementation of the wise use of peatlands. The IMCG and the IPS in their joint Statement on the Wise Use of Peatlands (IMCG and IPS 2001) also recommended actions for implementing wise use of peatlands including:

  • Promotion of the Ramsar Convention’s Guidelines for Global Action on Peatlands (GGAP) and implementation of its wise use themes.
  • Wide distribution of the book Wise Use of Mires and Peatlands.
  • Implementation of the Global Peat Initiative (GPI) with Wetlands International and partner organizations.
  • Refinement of global criteria for identifying and protecting key peatland sites for conservation purposes.

(b) The Global Peatland Initiative (GPI)was initiated in 2001 in association with Wetlands International, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the IPS andthe IMCG.It aims at generating additional resources during the 2001-2005 period to fund additional peatland wise use projects. The GPI focuses on: (a) conservation and restoration of peatlands, and (b) integrated development planning of peat-based agriculture, forestry and industries using the ecosystem approach. It is targeted at developing countries and those countries with economies in transition. The GPI has indicated it will support the implementation of Ramsar Guidelines for Global Action on Peatlands; support sustainable development projects on peatlands; help implement the recommendations in the IPS-IMCG book Wise Use of Mires and Peatlands, raise awareness of peatland functions and values; and promote certification of trade products from peatlands.

A Steering Committee for this initiative includes advisors from the IPS, IMCG and IUCN Netherlands National Committee. It is led and coordinated in association with Wetlands International. The GPI is designed as a nodal set of partnerships and is building networks and partnerships to significantly increase the overall initiative. It is seen as a significant mechanism to contribute to implementation of the Guidelines for Global Action on Peatlands of the Ramsar Convention. More information on the Global Peatland Initiative and its grant program is available from Wetlands International (see:

Additional initiatives that support this global implementation process include:

  • A Strategy and Action Plan for Mire and Peatland Conservation in Central Europe has been established. It will focus on peatland management in eight nations in the Baltic-BlackSea region of Europe. These eight nations are: Belarus, CzechRepublic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Poland and the Ukraine. This project, led by Wetlands International, will (among many actions) produce an overview report on the region’s peatlands, identify sites for conservation, and increase awareness of peatlands.
  • The IMCG and IPS are cooperating on a Global Peatland Classification and Terminology Project. It has eight working groups on terminology, botanics, zoology, hydrogenetics, functions and values, regionalization and data integration.
  • Revised and expanded communication mechanisms about peatlands now include the IMCG Newsletter, Peatlands International Magazine, an on-line Peat Newsfrom IPS, and sophisticated web sites from IMCG ( and IPS (see:
  • Both IMCG and IPS have developed long-term strategic plans outlining their vision for their contributions to the implementation of the Guidelines.
  • The Southeast Asia Peat Network has been established (SEA-PEAT). This has grown out of several major regional conferences on wetland and peatland management held in 2001. The Jakarta Statement on the Importance of Tropical Peatlandsencouraged investment by governments and the private sector in the restoration and conservation of tropical peatlands, in addition to themes of wise use and rural sustainable development. The need for capacity building, use of appropriate technology and international partnerships was stressed in the Jakarta meeting. In 2001, representatives of almost all Asian governments and major non-government organizations, adopted the Penang Declaration on Asian Wetlandsproviding significant guidance on wetland wise use issues.
  • In Europe, a project has been developed for Identification of Peatlands of International Biodiversity Conservation Importance using Red Data Books from BirdLife International, IUCN, CITES, the Bern Convention and the Bonn Convention. Most such sites would be ideal candidates for Ramsar designation.
  • A Southeast Asia Peatland Action Plan and Management Initiative has been introduced, led by the Global Environment Centre (GEN) in Malaysia. The GEN has also established a peat information web portal (see:
  • A national conference on peatland management and wise use will occur in the People’s Republic of China in mid-2004.
  • The Darwin Initiative for the Survival of Species, Peatland Biodiversity Programme is well advanced. It has focused on sharing of knowledge, regional workshops, local projects and national initiatives towards an Action Plan (see:
  • The Ramsar Convention has established a web site section on under-represented wetland types in the global network of Ramsar sites of Wetlands of International Importance (see: This site has collected numerous web links facilitating awareness of many current peatland initiatives.

Relevance of the Guidelines to Peatland Nations