The National Peatland Centre of Excellence planned for University of Galway will focus on working with farmers, sharing research and offering advice services.
The initiative for the centre followed the Peatland Futures event held at the university, which brought together experts, policymakers and stakeholders to deliberate on the future of peatland and wetland research and innovation in Ireland.
Organiser of the event, Dr. Terry Morley, said that there is a lot of research around peatlands happening in Ireland, but that the country “lacks coordinated demonstration sites”.
“If a farmer is interested in finding out how to reassess managing their land with respect to maybe a future or existing carbon scheme, they might think who can I talk to? What are my options?
“There doesn’t exist a central place for them to get that information,” Dr. Morley said.
He said that the new development could act as a “central place” in the country where farmers can reach out to for advice on future carbon options.
The organisers for the centre have already made an agreement with the Greifswald Mire Centre in Germany for help with their development.
In the short-term, the plan is to develop infrastructure in Co. Galway, but more long-term, the researchers would like to add more facilities.
National Peatland Centre
Dr. Morley said that over time, there would be plans to extend developments, by creating hubs in the midlands, which members of the public could contact or visit. He also mentioned how the centre could hold informative seminars.
Dr. Morley said that Ireland’s peatlands are in a “poor state”, with only 1% of active raised bogs currently functioning and 85% degraded.
“You can spend a lot of time commiserating over the state of these peatlands, but in another way, we could position ourselves as international leaders for peat restoration,” he said.
Dr. Morley told Agriland that with about 20 different research programmes happening nationwide on peatland, there was a need for somewhere to reposit the information.
He said that a lot of research at the moment is focused on carbon sequestration.
He mentioned one particular project by Teagasc, which is currently ongoing.
Teagasc is measuring atmospheric gas concentrations by using a flux tower, which takes readings 10 times per second.
The reading accounts for the carbon concentration in the air, along with the wind speed and wind direction.
He added that there is also a lot of research happening on mapping where certain peatlands are located.
Change for farmers
Dr. Morely said that he can see there is “great willingness from farmers to do something different”, but that there is much confusion around compensation.
He said that the peatland centre would help drive policy in order to gain compensation for affected farmers.
“From a farmers perspective, it’s great that these projects are being worked on, but it’s a big investment for them for their land.
“That’s where the peatland centre would come in to help drive policy to allow a change. Sort of like the ACRES programme, making a long term reality of funding for these farmers.
“It would be in compensation for actions that reduce emissions on their land,” Dr. Morley said.
“There will be a carbon credit scheme in Ireland at some point. So some of the key things now is to provide farmers with assurance, support and advice with how best to use their land from a climate standpoint,” he added.