Rewilding and climate breakdown

Bogland 3
The UK has about 13% of the world’s blanket peat bog

We are at a crossroads. The breakdown of our climate is no longer a fringe concern, but is increasingly recognised by the public as an urgent existential threat to both nature and human society. The gap between our awareness of that threat and the inadequacy of our current response has become clear.

This report is a contribution to bridging that gap. New thinking and practical action is urgently needed if the UK Government is to meet its legally-binding commitments to combat the catastrophic effects of climate change.

Rewilding Britain is calling for the UK and devolved governments to make a bolder financial and political commitment to nature’s recovery. 

We are asking them to:

To incentivise large-scale natural climate solutions. We propose a model of payments that values carbon sequestration and biodiversity enhancement in different restored ecosystems, particularly focused on less productive and marginal landscapes to minimise the impact on opportunity costs for food production.

Our indicative annual standard payments would support restored peat bogs and heathland at £292/ha, woodland at £512/ha, species-rich grassland at £144/ ha, saltmarsh at £322/ha, ponds and lakes at £204/ha and offshore ecosystems at £161/ha per year. Land holdings that come together to form contiguous zones of recovering, protected and restored ecosystems could attract enhanced payments.

To raise dedicated revenue to help fund natural climate solutions. This should incentivise emissions reductions whilst providing additional funds to support carbon sequestration activities in the agricultural and land use sectors.

To coordinate action across landholdings to ensure natural climate solutions are designed and brokered locally within each ecological, economic and cultural context.

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