Towards the development of a UK Peatland Code: Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) Pilot Research Project
Project report
Reed, M. S., Bonn, A., Evans, C., Joosten, H., Bain, B., Farmer, J., Emmer, I., Couwenberg, J., Moxey, A., Artz, R., Tanneberger, F, von Unger, M., Smyth, M., Birnie, R., Inman, I., Smith, S., Quick, T., Cowap, C., Prior, S. and Lindsay, R. 2013. Towards the development of a UK Peatland Code: Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) Pilot Research Project. London Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Authors | Reed, M. S., Bonn, A., Evans, C., Joosten, H., Bain, B., Farmer, J., Emmer, I., Couwenberg, J., Moxey, A., Artz, R., Tanneberger, F, von Unger, M., Smyth, M., Birnie, R., Inman, I., Smith, S., Quick, T., Cowap, C., Prior, S. and Lindsay, R. |
---|---|
Type | Project report |
Abstract | This Final Report describes research into the rationale and basis for the development of a UK There is growing interest in the creation of new markets to facilitate private investment in the provision of ecosystem services, and this was a key emphasis of Defra’s 2011 Natural Environment White Paper. The White Paper led to the formation of an Ecosystem Markets Taskforce to identify business opportunities in the natural environment that recommended the development of a UK Peatland Code in its report in March 2013. Subsequently in May 2013, Defra published an action plan for developing the potential for payments for ecosystem services in which it committed to work in partnership with the IUCN and others to support the testing, development and launch later in 2013 of a pilot UK Peatland Code. UK peatlands are a relevant place to explore the potential to pay for ecosystem services, given the range and importance of ecosystem services that they supply, and that fact that many of these service are not widely or fully paid for via agricultural support payments or by markets. This has led to the degradation of many peatlands through inappropriate burning, overWgrazing and drainage, leading to reductions in carbon storage, water quality and biodiversity. Investing in conserving and restoring peatlands is therefore a key tool to help deliver the UK’s climate change obligations, whilst helping meet other national and international obligations on biodiversity and water quality. Although there is growing interest from the private sector in paying for some of these ecosystem services, and there have been a small number of bilateral agreements to pay for peatland restoration via the Corporate Social Responsibility market, there is a need to develop guidance, frameworks and monitoring to provide sponsors with the confidence necessary to restore peatlands on any significant scale. This Payment for Ecosystem Service (PES) pilot research project therefore conducted the research necessary to develop and launch a UK pilot Peatland Code, designed to support markets that could pay for the restoration and reWwetting of degraded peatlands across the UK. The research project and subsequent Code drew significantly on Defra’s PES Best Practice Guide, first identifying a saleable ecosystem service and prospective buyers and sellers, based on previous work and new market research conducted as part of this project (Phase 1 in the PES Guide). The Code establishes the principles for a peatland PES scheme, and resolves a number of technical issues, to make it possible for buyers and sellers to work together for peatland restoration (Phase 2 in the PES Guide). The Code also provides guidance on contracts and monitoring (Phases 3 and 4 of the PES Guide), and takes a bundled approach to PES (a ‘premium carbon’ scheme that provides a range of coWbenefits), whilst not ruling out the possibility of layered schemes (e.g. using the Code to elicit payments for climate mitigation benefits on top of existing schemes that pay for water quality benefits) (Phase 5 of the PES Guide). The research offers a number of insights into the creation of markets for ecosystem services linked to peatland restoration. It also offers insights of more general relevance to the creation and implementation of new markets for ecosystem services, which may be of relevance to other habitats and ecosystems in the UK, and to the development of new PES schemes internationally. |
Keywords | peat bog systems; lowland |
Year | 2013 |
Publisher | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs |
Place of publication | London |
Web address (URL) | http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=18642 |
http://www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org/peatland-code | |
Funder | Defra |
Publication dates | |
2013 | |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 18 Mar 2014 |
Copyright holder | Crown copyright |
Publisher's version | License CC BY |
Publisher's version | License CC BY |
https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/85y1x
Download files
725
total views871
total downloads10
views this month4
downloads this month
Export as
Related outputs
Active afforestation of drained peatlands is not a viable option under the EU Nature Restoration Law
Jurasinski, G., Barthelmes, A., Byrne, K., Chojnicki, B. H., Christiansen, J. R., Decleer, K., Fritz, C., Günther, A. B., Huth, V., Joosten, H., Juszczak, R., Juutinen, S., Kasimir, Å., Klemedtsson, L., Koebsch, F., Kotowski, W., Kull, A., Lamentowicz, M., Lindgren, A., Lindsay, R., Linkevičienė, R., Lohila, A., Mander, Ü., Manton, M., Minkkinen, K., Peters, J., Renou-Wilson, F., Sendžikaitė, J., Šimanauskienė, R., Taminskas, J., Tanneberger, F., Tegetmeyer, C., van Diggelen, R., Vasander, H., Wilson, D., Zableckis, N., Zak, D. H. and Couwenberg, J. 2024. Active afforestation of drained peatlands is not a viable option under the EU Nature Restoration Law. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment. 53, pp. 970-983. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-024-02016-5Blanket bogs exhibit significant alterations to physical properties as a result of temporary track removal or abandonment
Williams-Mounsey, J., Crowle, A., Grayson, R., Lindsay, R. and Holden, J. 2024. Blanket bogs exhibit significant alterations to physical properties as a result of temporary track removal or abandonment. Ecohydrology. 17 (2), p. e2623. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.2623Roadmap to making wide-scale adoption of paludiculture a commercial reaility in England
Stuart, J., Birdsall, K., Carver, K., Clough, J., Kelly, A., Land, D., Lindsay, R. and Wright, N. 2023. Roadmap to making wide-scale adoption of paludiculture a commercial reaility in England. England Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.The use of historical accounts of species distribution to suggest restoration targets for UK upland mires within a ‘moorland’ landscape
Ritson, J. P. and Lindsay, R. A. 2023. The use of historical accounts of species distribution to suggest restoration targets for UK upland mires within a ‘moorland’ landscape. Mires and Peat. 29 (Art. 24), pp. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.19189/MaP.2023.OMB.Sc.2116686Peatlands: Restoring the Invisible – a matter of Intelligence
Lindsay, R. 2023. Peatlands: Restoring the Invisible – a matter of Intelligence. Power to the Peatlands Conference 2023. Antwerp, Belgium 19 - 21 Sep 2023The Peatland Challenge – Mission Impossible for the Forgotten Lands?
Lindsay, R. 2023. The Peatland Challenge – Mission Impossible for the Forgotten Lands? LIFE platform meeting: The benefits of peatland restoration for Europe . Berlin, Germany 26 - 28 Apr 2023Surface structure on abandoned upland blanket peatland tracks
Williams-Mounsey, J., Crowle, A., Grayson, R., Lindsay, R. and Holden, J. 2022. Surface structure on abandoned upland blanket peatland tracks. Journal of Environmental Management. 325 (Art. 116561). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116561UNFCCC COP26 Global Peatlands Pavilion Summary Report
Van Offelen, J., Brooks, S., Clough, J., Kopansky, D., Lindsay, R., Peters, J., Proctor, S., Reed, M., Scheel, P., Schutten, H., Soto, C. and Tanneberger, F. 2022. UNFCCC COP26 Global Peatlands Pavilion Summary Report. Global Peatlands Initiative.Ramsar Policy Brief No. 5. Restoring drained peatlands: A necessary step to achieve global climate goals
Dinesen, L., Joosten, H., Rochefort, L., Lindsay, R. and Glatzel, S. 2021. Ramsar Policy Brief No. 5. Restoring drained peatlands: A necessary step to achieve global climate goals. Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands.Burning on Blanket Bog: Part 2 - Recovery Pathways
Lindsay, R. 2020. Burning on Blanket Bog: Part 2 - Recovery Pathways.Raised bog formation
Lindsay, R. 2020. Raised bog formation.Burning on Blanket Bogs: Part 1 - Effects of Fire
Lindsay, R. 2020. Burning on Blanket Bogs: Part 1 - Effects of Fire.Explaining the impacts of draining peatland on carbon emissions, hydrology & peat structure
Lindsay, R. 2020. Explaining the impacts of draining peatland on carbon emissions, hydrology & peat structure.COP 26: Pavilion Proposals
Kasim, H., Patel, M., Pinsky, M., Zandavali, B., Chandler, A. and Lindsay, R. 2020. COP 26: Pavilion Proposals. University of East London, School of Architecture Computing and Engineering.Peatland Training Programme – Part 1
Lindsay, R. 2020. Peatland Training Programme – Part 1. IUCN UK Peatland Programme.Hard Hill experimental plots on Moor House – Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve - A review of the experimental set up (NECR321)
Clutterbuck, B., Lindsay, R., Chico, G. and Clough, J. 2020. Hard Hill experimental plots on Moor House – Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve - A review of the experimental set up (NECR321). Natural England.Literature Review: Defra project SP1218: An assessment of the potential for paludiculture in England and Wales
Mulholland, B., Abdel-Aziz, I., Lindsay, R., McNamara, N., Keith, A., Page, S., Clough, J., Freeman, B. and Evans, C. 2020. Literature Review: Defra project SP1218: An assessment of the potential for paludiculture in England and Wales. UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.Geo‐Hydromorphological Assessment of Europe’s Southernmost Blanket Bogs
Chico, G., Clutterbuck, B., Clough, J., Lindsay, R., Midgley, N. G. and Labadz, J. C. 2020. Geo‐Hydromorphological Assessment of Europe’s Southernmost Blanket Bogs. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. 45 (12), pp. 2747-2760. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4927Restoration of Freshwaters: Principles and Practice
Sayer, Carl, Bennion, Helen, Gurnell, Angela, Goodyer, Emma, Kotze, Donovan and Lindsay, R. 2018. Restoration of Freshwaters: Principles and Practice. in: Hughes, Jocelyne (ed.) Freshwater Ecology and Conservation: Approaches and Techniques Oxford University Press. pp. 378-403Appendix 3A of BD5104 Ecological Vegetation Assessment
Lindsay, R. 2019. Appendix 3A of BD5104 Ecological Vegetation Assessment. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.Hard Hill Research Plots, Moor House National Nature Reserve, UK, VR imagery
Lindsay, R. 2019. Hard Hill Research Plots, Moor House National Nature Reserve, UK, VR imagery. Sustainability Research Institute, University of East London. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.87v0wHard Hill Research Plots, Moor House National Nature Reserve, UK, 180 degree 3D VR un-processed imagery
Lindsay, R. 2019. Hard Hill Research Plots, Moor House National Nature Reserve, UK, 180 degree 3D VR un-processed imagery. Sustainability Research Institute, University of East London. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.87qyyHard Hill Research Plots, Moor House National Nature Reserve, UK, 180 degree 3D VR image-processed imagery
Lindsay, R. 2019. Hard Hill Research Plots, Moor House National Nature Reserve, UK, 180 degree 3D VR image-processed imagery. Sustainability Research Institute, University of East London. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.87qyxHard Hill Research Plots, Moor House National Nature Reserve, UK, 360 degree 2D VR un-processed imagery
Lindsay, R. 2019. Hard Hill Research Plots, Moor House National Nature Reserve, UK, 360 degree 2D VR un-processed imagery. Sustainability Research Institute, University of East London. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.87qyw
Over the Top— how far should we go?
Lindsay, R. 2019. Over the Top— how far should we go? Delivering the 25 Year Environment Plan: Woodland Creation in Upland Protected Landscapes. Chatsworth House, Bakewell, Derbyshire, UK 22 - 22 Oct 2019Hard Hill Research Plots, Moor House National Nature Reserve, UK, 360 degree 2D VR image-processed imagery
Lindsay, R. 2019. Hard Hill Research Plots, Moor House National Nature Reserve, UK, 360 degree 2D VR image-processed imagery. Sustainability Research Institute, University of East London. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.8781zPeatlands: the challenge of mapping the world’s invisible stores of carbon and water
Lindsay, R., Ifo, A., Cole, L., Montanarella, L. and Nuutinen, M. 2019. Peatlands: the challenge of mapping the world’s invisible stores of carbon and water. Unasylva: An international journal of forestry and forest industries. 70, pp. 46-57.