Business Clinic: Peatland restoration schemes – what to be aware of

Whether it’s a legal, tax, insurance, management or land issue, Farmers Weekly’s experts can help.

Lucy Merrill, Senior Rural Surveyor, Carter Jonas sets out the opportunity for carbon savings on peatland.

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Q: I own a 2,000-acre upland estate which includes some peatland. There is a lot of talk about peatland restoration and I know this is a good thing for carbon sequestration, but is there any money to be made from it? If so, what should I consider?

A: The England Peat Action Plan published in May 2021 includes a target that by 2030 all England’s soils will be managed sustainably. When in a poor condition, peatlands can be a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions.

However, rewetting peatlands with gully blocking and the appropriate vegetation, such as sphagnum mosses, means that these unique habitats can act as a carbon sink, sequestering additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

In light of this, the short answer is that there is money to be made from restoring peat through both public and private funding – and you don’t need anything like 2,000 acres to get involved.

As we transition to a new era of payments for public goods, from a system of direct support and stewardship to the new Environmental Land Management schemes, it will be a challenge to compare both new and old opportunities.

This is exacerbated by the lack of certainty surrounding payment rates for the Local Nature and Landscape Recovery schemes.

Among other public funding, the Nature for Climate Peatland Grant scheme is also available until 2025 and offers funding for information gathering and restoration projects respectively.

Another round of applications for the latter part of the grant scheme is due to open in 2023.

Will ‘stacking’ be allowed?

There is uncertainty as to the extent to which environmental outcomes will be able to be “stacked”, whereby different income streams, whether through grant schemes or private markets, are blended.

This will require strategic planning from the outset to avoid double funding and to maximise opportunities.

Private markets in natural capital are continuously evolving, with prices for environmental outcomes yet to be fully established.

These payments will be very site specific – however there could be significant income for the right action, in the right place. 

GHG savings must be additional

Additionality is key to carbon markets: this is a criterion stipulating that project-based greenhouse gas reductions should only be quantified if the project activity “would not have happened anyway”.

The Peatland Code is one of two recognised standards for the sale of UK carbon, with a scientifically agreed method of measurement and independent monitoring over at least 30 years.

However, there are strict tests and forward planning is essential.

The code stipulates that the peat must be actively eroding or drained, as well as deep, alongside other pre-requisites.

Therefore it is necessary to gather information early on the habitat, including current condition and peat depth.

Projects registered with the code from September 2022 will need to comply with version 1.2 of the code.

If your estate includes some peatland, it’s relatively likely that it will also have some land suitable for tree planting, so consider potential income streams here too.

Credits registered with the Woodland Carbon Code can benefit from a guaranteed income upon delivery of verified Woodland Carbon Units every five or 10 years when successful under the government Woodland Carbon Guarantee Auction.

The auction held in August 2021 resulted in an average price of £18.62/woodland carbon unit (tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent), and we are currently awaiting the results of the latest auction.

We await further developments in carbon markets for other land management activities, such as hedgerow planting and soil carbon.

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