Peatlands

Our solutions

• Informing strong law and policy to protect peatlands. Leading global authorities like the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the Ramsar Convention Secretariat have called for the development of national and subnational policy frameworks for peatlands. Based on the recommendations of these authorities and in collaboration with over 100 of Canada’s foremost peatland researchers, practitioners, and knowledge-holders, WCS Canada has developed The National Peatland Strategy: A Proposed Strategy for the Protection, Restoration, and Long-term Stewardship of Peatlands in Canada. The Strategy calls on governments of all levels in all regions of Canada to adopt urgent measures to safeguard Canada’s peatlands and provides a guiding framework for coordinated action, as well as action plans for each province and territory.

• Identifying tools and actions to support climate-smart decisions for critical minerals development across the carbon-rich boreal region of Canada. The goal of this initiative is to address the challenge of how to maintain and manage the integrity and carbon storage and sink capacity of peatlands and forests across the boreal region of Canada with increased critical mineral development and associated infrastructure.

• Developing and implementing a government engagement and communications strategy for peatlands. We have been successful in building awareness among government decision-makers and influencers about the importance of protecting high-integrity peatlands across Canada for climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the risk continued loss and degradation of peatlands (including from extraction of critical minerals) poses to Canada’s climate targets. We continue to engage in key policy initiatives, including the Regional Assessment for the proposed Ring of Fire mining development in northern Ontario, Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy, nation-building projects, and oil sands expansion in peatlands in northern Alberta.

• Conducting scientific research on peatlands across Canada, in collaboration and partnership with First Nations and other groups, with a particular focus on field-based research in the Hudson Bay Lowlands in northern Ontario, and the Yukon. The science we generate will inform proposals for IPCAs and other protected areas, along with providing the data needed for the inclusion of peatlands in Canada’s national GHG inventory and climate and land-use planning policies. Our research projects include:
  • A regional synthesis of existing data on peatland carbon stocks and fluxes for the Hudson Bay Lowland, including supporting environmental data (hydrology, vegetation, temperatures etc.)
  • Understanding ecohydrological controls on methane emissions from undisturbed and drained peatlands (due to mining) in the Hudson Bay Lowlands.
  • Linking small-scale controls and feedback on peatland GHG fluxes to site level and landscape scale change (e.g., mining and roads, drainage, permafrost thaw, fire), including with the use of drones.
  • Quantifying the effects of placer mining and reclamation activities on peatland GHG emissions and removals in the Yukon.