PEAT NEWS
7/2013
Page 2
Upland Bogs Conservation Conference in York, UK
A conservation conference on upland bogs will be held in York at St John University on 12 October 2013 on initiative of the People, Landscape and Cultural Environment Education and Research Centre (PLACE). The event will focus on the future of the region’s upland areas, including blanket bogs. Registration fees amount to £20 in general or £15 for pensioners, including coffee, tea and a buffet lunch. Speakers will include: • • • • • • • • Rob Stoneman: The climate catastrophe – peatlands to the rescue Vince Carter: Slowing the Flow: the role of woodland in the water agenda Blaise Vyner: Managing the historic environment of the moorlands for the future Roger Martlew: Upland quarries as past and future landscapes Lois Mansfield: Rural Development: supporting the ‘third leg’ for sustainable upland farming John O’Reilly: What are upland hay meadows and how do we conserve them? Jen Deadman: Farm Buildings of Nidderdale: a Sense of Place in the 21st century? Gill Cookson History in Action: the manor court of Danby.
For more information visit http://place.uk.com/2013/08/place-autumn-conference-the-future-of-the-uplands.
FAO Workshop Report Released
FAO has published its report of the workshop “Towards sustainable land management practices for peatlands: special focus on drained areas” held in Rome on 7 - 9 May 2013. The report can be downloaded at www.fao.org/climatechange/micca/peat and shared with potentially interested contacts. MICCA's activities are supported by the governments of Finland, Germany and Norway. The report states the following recommended priority actions (proposals for further actions, including appropriate fund raising): Mapping and state of peatlands • Develop in the short term (2015) a new updated global inventory and mapping of peatlands based on existing data and information (Global Atlas of Organic Soils). • Standardize the definitions and methods used for the assessment of drained peatlands. • Invest into land survey and soil samples analyses. • Development of platform(s) for data sharing. Uses of peatlands and options for responsible peatland management • Conserve undrained peatlands. • Demonstrate the value of undrained peatlands for food production and livelihoods (e.g. diverse forest products, native fisheries for food and recreation). • Identify the key regions for advancing the responsible management practices of drained peatlands, mitigating GHG emissions, protecting biodiversity and supporting livelihoods. • Use a negotiation approach for involving local people in planning peatland management to achieve successful long-term results. • Develop information on potential and impacts of developing fisheries and aquaculture as livelihood options in rewetted peatlands. • Develop technical guidelines towards the responsible management of degraded peatlands. • Identify investments, grants and subsidies for rewetting of drained peatlands. Guidebook Towards responsible peatland management practices • Concept note, invitation to new contributors and an outline will be sent out by FAO. NAMAs for peatland rehabilitation and livelihoods • Support countries in planning NAMAs on peatlands for development and livelihoods; and • Develop collaboration between funding organizations for developing finance structures for NAMAs from multiple sources. The workshop also promoted the networking and knowledge sharing among specialists, as well as joint project establishment for improved regional mapping. For more information, visit www.fao.org/climatechange/micca/peat.
International Peat Society Kauppakatu 19 D 31, FIN-40100 Jyväskylä, Finland www.peatsociety.org ips (at) peatsociety.org
susann.warnecke (at) peatsociety.org jaakko.silpola (at) peatsociety.org www.facebook.com/peatsociety
mobile: +358 40 418 4075 mobile: +358 50 406 4836 linkd.in/peatsociety