Peatland and Bog Restoration

Written By Linda Browne

The Power of Peat: Restoring Luggala’s Peatlands

Our Peat Restoration Team at Work

Peatlands are among the world’s most powerful natural carbon stores—peatlands sequester comparable amounts of carbon to those of rainforests. Peat ecosystems act as natural carbon vaults, regulating greenhouse gasses, filtering water, and supporting a rich diversity of wildlife. Peatland covers just 3% of the Earth’s land but stores nearly 30% of Earth’s soil carbon.

Only a small amount of peat bog exists in the world; Ireland’s land area is covered 21% by blanket bog, which is 8% of the Earth’s total blanket bog!  It is the most important country in Europe for bog habitat.

When peatland is degraded, instead of storing carbon, it releases carbon into our atmosphere. To put it into perspective, 5% of ALL Earth’s greenhouse gas emissions come from damaged peatland. Unfortunately, historic land use practices in Ireland such as drainage, cutting and burning damage the peatland and release carbon, creating a major source of Ireland’s carbon emissions. These continued emissions could see Ireland failing to meet an EU-agreed climate target and risks an EU fine of almost €30 billion if it fails to reach this EU- agreed target.

Importantly, Luggala’s peatbog restoration project will deliver immediate and measurable benefits: biodiversity begins to return, water quality improves, and carbon emissions are reduced. Restoring Luggala’s approximately 3,000ha of damaged peatbog provides a rare opportunity for nature recovery, ecological research, and climate action. This will help to decrease Ireland’s overall carbon emissions, contributing to Ireland’s agreed climate objectives for climate, biodiversity, and water quality, thereby reducing these costly fines for the country and its people. We are doing our part for improved climate stability as well as for Ireland itself, and, through our actions, hope to inspire others to do the same.

With the right investment and vision, Luggala’s peatbogs can once again serve as resilient, thriving landscapes.

A Clear Case for Restoration at Luggala

A rare opportunity to restore one of Ireland’s most degraded yet climate-critical habitats.

Restoration at this scale directly supports Ireland’s EU climate and biodiversity targets by:

  • Preventing further carbon emissions from degraded peat soils.

  • Restoring hydrology and habitat to upland catchments.

  • Rebuilding native plant communities and rare species habitats.

  • Creating a national model for high-integrity, large-scale peatland restoration.

  • Maintaining permanently wet soils would safeguard peat for future generations instead of losing it to oxidation.

  • Restored bog habitat would deliver cleaner water, richer biodiversity and greater climate stability across the Wicklow uplands.

The restoration programme at Luggala exemplifies climate leadership, offering measurable outcomes for carbon, water, and biodiversity in line with Ireland’s commitments under the EU Green Deal and Nature Restoration Law.

Sources:

  • Tomlinson, R.W. (2005). Soil carbon stocks and land cover in Ireland.

  • Malone, S. & O’Connell, C. (2009). Ireland’s Peatland Conservation Action Plan 2020 – Halting the Loss of Peatland Biodiversity. Irish Peatland Conservation Council, Kildare.

  • Wyse Jackson, P. (unpublished survey, National Botanic Gardens of Ireland).

  • Cris, R., Buckmaster, S., Bain, C., & Reed, M. (eds.) (2014). Global Peatland Restoration: Demonstrating SUCCESS. Edinburgh: IUCN UK National Committee Peatland Programme.

  • Fanning, D (2025) Offlay Live: Landmark peatland initiative launched at Shinrone farm

  • O’Leary, D (2023) RTE: How much of Ireland is actually made up of peatland?

  • RTE: Mapping Ireland's peatlands to help cut carbon emissions

  • Gilet.L , Morley.T, Flynn.R, Connolly.J, IPPC: Blanket Bogs

Linda Browne
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