Ireland is known as the emerald isle, and when the sun comes out the green hues are truly dazzling. One of the colours of the green rainbow is a bit darker than others—Irelands peat bogs which cover nearly a quarter of the country and story millennia of accumulated carbon, host biodiversity, and have sustained the people of Ireland through very difficult times over the last 200 years. The history of Irelandʼs carbon rich peatlands is rooted in both geology and human use. These wetlands, where layers of decaying plant material accumulate over thousands of years, have shaped Ireland’s natural environment and culture.
Peat bogs began forming in Ireland after the retreat of glaciers from Europe around 10,000 years ago. As glaciers retreated, they left behind waterlogged basins with poor drainage, creating ideal conditions for bogs. The combination of a wet climate, low temperatures, and acidic conditions led to the slow decay of plant material, primarily mosses such as *Sphagnum*, as well as sedges and grasses. In this anaerobic, waterlogged environment, dead plant matter accumulated slowly, 1cm layer by 1cm layer, eventually forming peat.
Ireland’s deep peat bogs are found in the central lowlands, creating a dome-shaped bog as much as 15 meters high above the surrounding land. The use of peat for heating, cooking and building dates back to at least the Bronze Age (around 2000 BCE), with peat providing an essential source of energy in areas where wood was scarce and when times were tough.
In the Middle Ages, as Ireland’s population grew and deforestation reduced the availability of firewood, the importance of peat as a fuel increased. Peat became particularly valuable in rural areas and for those living in Irelandʼs bogland regions. Communities developed a system of cutting peat in blocks, drying it, and then using it as a slow-burning fuel. Over time, the traditional method of hand-cutting peat with a special tool called a “slane” became widespread.
The 19th and early 20th centuries saw the expansion of peat use for households as Ireland was slow to electrify and coal was expensive and imported. In the 1930s Irelandʼs government began to promote the extraction of peat on an industrial scale to meet the growing population needs for energy. Bord na Móna –the Peat Board– a state-owned company, began cutting vast quantities of peat for use in Peat-fired power stations and domestic heating. Peat was Irelandʼs coal for nearly the last century.
From the start, the draining of bogs for peat harvesting led to significant habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, and the release of carbon dioxide, contributing to climate change. By the late 20th century, concerns about the sustainability of peat use grew, and there were increasing calls to protect Irelandʼs remaining bogs. In 2020, the Irish government committed to phasing out the use of peat for electricity generation, and in 2021, Bord na Móna ceased harvesting peat for energy.
In a remarkable about face, Bord na Móna is now using its decades of expertise to restore bogs for carbon storage, water regulation, and biodiversity. This is no small task. A typical peat bog will have 800 to 1000 hectors of harvested area that was mined from the surface down over the last 80 years to a depth 15 meters. Restoring the bog requires recontouring of the land to manage Irelandʼs ample rainfall so that water neither pools too much nor drains too quickly. It’s important that water stays within 10 cm of the surface– above or below—in order to assure the fastest regrowth and continued carbon storage. If it dries out, it emits carbon. If itʼs flooded, it emits carbon. A Goldilocks zone needs to be maintained carefully. These restored bogs begin to look like Asian rice paddies: stairsteps of terraces in place to manage the water. The aim is to restore 11,000 years of peat growth as quickly as possible.
This is expensive work – per hectare restoration costs run between $4,000 – $5,000 – and they need to be managed and monitored intensively for the next few decades as they start to rebuild, and then for the next 1,000 years to ensure they store carbon well. Funding for this work is not secure, however, and the government, Bord na Móna and private landowners are working together to create revenue sources, including tax incentives and the use of carbon markets to supplement the limited government budget to put the peat ecosystem back together.
Ireland is a prosperous country now, and part of the European Union. Fortunately, its government, businesses, landowners and people are “green-minded” and the prospects of scaling peat restoration to sequester millions of tonnes of carbon and restore biodiversity is attractive. In a sense, Ireland is embarking on a restoration journey without knowing what it will take to restore the lands that sustained the Irish people for thousands of years. What else would they do, though? Itʼs home.
Other peatlands around the world, especially in the developing world and in the tropics, continue to be exploited for short term gain for the same reason that the Irish mined peat for 200 years — desperate necessity. We hope to bring financing, compensation mechanisms and economic incentives, like what the carbon market provides, to peatlands everywhere so that the short-term necessities of daily life donʼt destroy the long term future of us all.
