To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 7 March (HL6269), what steps they will take to ensure that a larger amount of peatlands is restored before 2040 in order (1) to avoid incurring significant opportunity costs, and (2) to prevent the further degradation of unrestored peatlands.
Answered on
7 April 2022
England's peatlands are our largest terrestrial carbon store. They provide a home for rare wildlife, regulate our water supply and provide a record of the past. However, we know we need to do more to restore our peatlands to their natural state so that they can provide these vital ecosystem services.
In the Net Zero Strategy, we committed to aim to restore approximately 280,000 hectares of peatland in England by 2050. The Nature for Climate Fund aims to provide funding for the restoration of at least 35,000 hectares of peatland by 2025, representing a tripling of historic average annual restoration levels. To ensure that a larger amount of peatlands is restored, the scheme is offering two types of grants: Discovery grants focused on building a restoration pipeline by enabling projects to unlock barriers to peat restoration; and Restoration grants, focused on capital works on the ground, for projects for which the preparatory work has mostly been completed. A second round of both the Discovery and Restoration grants are to be launched in spring 2022.
We have set out further plans for enabling and facilitating peatland restoration in the England Peat Action Plan, published in May 2021. We are investing in research on lowland peat to ensure we have the evidence needed to help inform necessary land use management. An Implementation Plan, being developed by Natural England, will set out how the England Peat Action Plan will be delivered, including a trajectory of restoration over the next 20 years.
We are also exploring future funding options, including mobilising private investment, and through the development of our new environmental land management schemes. We will continue to keep our policies under review to ensure that we restore and prevent further degradation of peatlands as much as possible.