Peatland Restoration: A Lesson in Patience and Practicality

Rob Beeson
23 hours ago
3 min read

As stewards of the land, we understand that managing our moorlands is a long-term commitment. Whether it is heather management or maintaining drainage for traditional land uses, we know that nature rarely works on quick timescales.

A new study from Norway offers a realistic look at what actually happens when we attempt to restore drained peatlands. The research, published in Scientific Reports, closely monitored a peatland rewetting project to see if it delivered the immediate carbon savings often promised by policymakers.

The results confirm what many land managers have long suspected: restoration is not a quick fix. In fact, things often get worse before they get better.

The Experiment

Researchers monitored two adjacent peatland sites in southeastern Norway that had been drained for forestry decades ago. One site was kept drained (the "Control Site"), while the other (the "Treatment Site") was "rewetted" in late 2021.

The restoration work involved the practical heavy lifting familiar to many of our members: blocking over 3.8 kilometers of ditches with peat dams and removing trees to stop them from sucking the ground dry.

The goal was simple: raise the water table and stop the carbon emissions. But the data tells a more complex story.

The Short-Term "Shock"

We often hear that rewetting peat instantly turns a carbon source into a carbon sink. This study suggests we need to manage those expectations carefully.

Carbon Dioxide: Before restoration, the drained site was emitting a modest 12.2 g of carbon per square meter annually. In the first year after rewetting, emissions didn’t go down - they spiked to 71.0 g, nearly six times higher.
Why the spike? The physical work of restoration - digging peat to build dams and felling trees - disturbs the soil. This "shock" to the system causes a temporary release of carbon.
The Recovery: By the second year, the land began to settle, and emissions dropped back down to 24.3 g.

This mirrors the generational knowledge of moorland communities: you cannot disturb the land without consequences, and recovery takes time.

The Methane Trade-Off

Raising the water table is essential for healthy peat. The study found that blocking ditches successfully raised the median water table by 9 cm. However, wetter ground creates conditions for methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

Methane emissions at the restored site doubled, rising from 1.8 g to 3.6 g per year.
While these numbers are relatively low compared to other wetlands, it highlights a necessary trade-off: to save carbon dioxide in the long run, we often have to accept higher methane emissions in the short run.

The Hidden Carbon Flow

The study also shed light on "Dissolved Organic Carbon" (DOC) - the brown, tea-coloured water often seen running off peatlands. The researchers estimated that the amount of carbon flowing away in the water was roughly similar to the amount being released as gas.

This is a reminder that simply looking at the air above the moor doesn't give the full picture of the land’s health.

What This Means for Moorland Management

For the Moorland Association and our members, this research vindicates a cautious, long-term approach to conservation.

Don't Rush the Results: The researchers emphasize that short-term monitoring (less than 3 years) is misleading. It can take 10 to 20 years for a restored peatland to stabilize and become a genuine carbon sink.
Nature is Unpredictable: interestingly, the "Control Site" (which was left alone) saw its own carbon emissions rise in later years for reasons the scientists couldn't fully explain. This underscores the complexity of these ecosystems - they don't always behave as computer models predict.
Restoration is Disruptive: The study admits that the initial increase in emissions was likely due to the "soil and vegetation disturbances" caused by the restoration machinery.

The Long View

This paper serves as a scientific backing for the traditional view of land stewardship. True conservation isn't about ticking boxes for this year's targets; it is about managing the land for the next generation. Restoration works, but it requires patience, practical skill, and the understanding that the landscape needs decades, not months, to heal.

Takeaway

Effective peatland restoration is a generational commitment, not a quick fix, with data showing that carbon emissions can actually rise significantly in the first few years after rewetting before long-term benefits are realized.