The wildfires in Lancashire and Greater Manchester are a disaster, not least because of the blot on the landscape they will leave behind once the flames are out. Although the hot dry weather is clearly to blame, so too is damage over the years from drainage that dried out the peat and turned it into a powder keg.
Peatlands may not look glamorous but they are a hugely important national treasure. They help prevent floods by soaking up rain like a sponge, and can hold about 20 times their own weight in water. And more than 70% of Britain’s drinking water comes from peatlands, feeding into supplies for 28 million people.
The plants in peatlands absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, locking away staggering amounts of carbon – about 5.5bn tonnes, more than half the country’s entire carbon storage – and that helps curb climate change. In comparison, British forests store only 150m tonnes of carbon. However, damaged moorlands do the opposite, releasing vast amounts of greenhouse gases, made even worse when smoke particulates enter the atmosphere.
Britain has some of the finest peatlands in the world, but they need protection. They need to be kept wet and prevented from being drained for farming or development, or dug up for garden compost.
