South of Scotland unveils plan to accelerate peatland restoration
A new South of Scotland Regional Peatland Action Plan has been unveiled, aiming to help tackle climate change, support nature and create opportunities for rural communities and businesses.
The five year Regional Peatland Action Plan will look to manage one of the South of Scotland’s most important natural assets, which makes up almost 40% of the region.
The Plan has been commissioned by South of Scotland Enterprise and developed for the Regional Land Use Partnership (RLUP), a sub-group of the Regional Economic Partnership, by the Crichton Carbon Centre and Tweed Forum.
It builds on consultation with practitioners, agencies, land managers, communities and organisations already involved in peatland restoration.
Peat soils make up almost 40% of the South of Scotland, with around 156,000 hectares of deep peat.
However, much of the region’s peatland is degraded as a result of drainage, afforestation, management pressures and erosion.
In its degraded state, peatland can become a net source of greenhouse gas emissions as well as losing natural capital value.
Restoring peatland assets brings a large range of benefits that underpin the region’s prosperity and wellbeing, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions, enhanced biodiversity, safeguarding important freshwater fisheries, natural flood management and improved water quality.
The new Action Plan provides a framework for increasing peatland restoration and improving long-term management across the region. It aims to overcome barriers to delivery while ensuring work is targeted to provide maximum benefit for the environment and communities.
At the heart of the plan is a recommendation to establish a South of Scotland Peatland Partnership by autumn 2026 as a first priority.
The Partnership would bring together organisations involved in peatland restoration and management to agree regional priorities, coordinate delivery and strengthen links between regional and national activity.
The plan also explores a more coordinated regional delivery approach, including the potential for a multi-year programme of restoration projects designed around agreed South of Scotland priorities.
It identifies opportunities to combine public funding with other investment and finance and to make delivery more efficient for landowners and managers.
The Action Plan sets out six interconnected themes for:
• Strategic collaboration
• Data and Evidence
• Regional priorities
• Direct delivery
• National alignment
• Workforce
The plan recognises that peatland restoration needs to be integrated more closely with farming, forestry, water management, habitat restoration and wider land-use decisions.
Regional priorities include:
• Improving water quality
• Strengthening habitat networks and climate resilience
• Forest-to-bog restoration
• Addressing actively eroding peatlands
• Identifying sites which can provide training, demonstration and community benefits.
It also proposes practical steps for workforce development to build the region’s capacity to deliver restoration, including training contractors and designers, developing regional education and training pathways and providing support to help contractors adapt machinery for peatland restoration.
The Action Plan aligns with the Scottish Government’s Peatland ACTION Five Year Partnership Plan and Scotland’s Climate Change Plan which includes a proposed national target of 400,000 hectares of peatland restoration by 2040.
Ian Bray, Chair of the RLUP said:
“Our peatlands are an enormously important part of the South of Scotland’s natural capital, but we know that much of this resource is currently in poor condition
This plan is about building on the strong foundation of partnership work in the region, helping partners work together on the barriers that limit delivery and making sure restoration is targeted where it can deliver the greatest benefit.”
Councillor Stephen Thompson, REP representative for Dumfries & Galloway Council on the RLUP, added:
“Peatland restoration is already happening across the South of Scotland and there is a wealth of practical knowledge and experience in the region.
This Action Plan gives a clear regional framework to help bring partners together, improve our evidence, agree priorities and build local skills and delivery capacity.
This means we can accelerate peatland restoration and ensure that investment provides wider benefits for our environment, communities and rural economy."
Councillor Scott Hamilton, REP representative for Scottish Borders Council on the RLUP, said:
“The South of Scotland has considerable peatland expertise already.
“The opportunity now is to build on that knowledge and collaboration and turn it into coordinated action across the region.
“Establishing a regional Peatland Partnership will be an important next step, providing the coordination needed to turn the ambitions in this plan into practical action.”
Russel Griggs, Chair of SOSE, added:
“The Regional Peatland Action Plan is an important piece of work which is another example of the collaborative action taking place in the South to drive delivery for a more sustainable and nature-positive future.
As Scotland’s Natural Capital Innovation Zone, we want to accelerate nature-based solutions to the twin challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change, and this plan is a significant step towards achieving that.”