MSP TO HIGHLIGHT IMPORTANCE OF PEATLAND

For immediate use: Wednesday 3rd November 2010




Attn: NEWSDESKS


ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENTS

Highlands and Islands SNP MSP will call for peatlands to be considered as important as rainforests during a member’s debate on peatlands in the Scottish Parliament this week (Thursday 4th November).



Mr Gibson, who has secured a members debate on the subject, will say that peatlands are important features which help create and support a rich bio-diversity and lock away carbon.



He will say that more peatlands in Scotland should be returned to their natural state and that they should be protected.



Mr Gibson will also reiterate the call for the flow country in Caithness and North Sutherland (the largest Blanket Peat bog in Europe) to be given world heritage status.



Commenting Mr Gibson said:



"I am delighted to secure the debate which has received cross party support. It shows the importance of the subject and the potential that exists in Scotland's peat bogs."



"Scotland’s deepest peat's store around ten times the amount of carbon stored in the whole of the UK’s forest. A loss of just 1% of Scotland’s peat would equal the annual greenhouse gas emissions of around 57 Megatonnes CO2-equivalent. So restoring damaged peatlands has great potential to help reduce emissions and contribute to Scotland climate change targets."



"Peatlands are the equivalent of the rain forest in the Northern hemisphere and a large proportion of the them are in Scotland. We should ensure that land managers who help maintain this vital part of our natural environment are supported for their efforts in securing a wide range of valuable services.


“We must also take urgent steps to prevent our damaged peatlands from deteriorating so far that they become very difficult to repair."



ENDS



Notes



1. Copy of motion which will be debated in Parliament this Thursday (4th November)


S3M-6931# Rob Gibson: Investing in the Future of Scotland’s Peatlands—That the Parliament welcomes the launch of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) UK Peatland Programme and Commission of Inquiry on Peatlands with funding from the Peter De Haan Charitable Trust and believes that IUCN UK’s decision to base this prestigious programme in Scotland is recognition of the global significance of Scotland’s peatlands and underlines that Scotland leads the world in peatland restoration expertise; considers that, while scientific understanding of peatlands is developing rapidly, the knowledge base is strong enough to recognise that peatlands deliver multiple benefits for biodiversity, water and climate and that the example of the Flow Country of Caithness and Sutherland shows how peatlands can deliver significant economic benefits to local communities through encouraging visitors to these beautiful and fragile landscapes; believes that the land use strategy required by the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 provides an opportunity for peatland restoration to be championed at the heart of government, and further believes that action taken now could prevent massive future costs arising from the breakdown of peatland ecosystems and that target-based peatland restoration offers an important opportunity to help meet Scotland’s climate change targets.


The Debate will take place around 17.10 in parliament on Thursday evening, 4th November.