With the growing urgency of the climate and biodiversity emergencies and the role for nature-based solutions in mind this conference had a focus on taking peatland strategy to action. Through 23 sessions, 73 inspiring and informative speakers and with 560 registered delegates this event explored the vital role that healthy peatlands play in society’s adaptability, resilience and recovery and shared progress made towards UK Peatland Strategy goals.
This year’s IUCN UK Peatland Programme conference ‘Peatlands: From Strategy to Action’ was hosted as a virtual event in partnership with the Welsh Peatland Sustainable Management Scheme (SMS) Project.
Following last year’s fantastic event in Belfast, this year’s conference continued to inspire people to connect with each other over peatland topics, creating space to reconnect with existing contacts, grow new networks and exchange knowledge with international peatland projects.
Over four days (7th – 10th December) the conference provided a forum for delegates to explore:
- What strategic and political actions have been taken, or are being developed, across the four countries to support peatland conservation and management goals?
- What are the peatland communities’ ambitions for biodiversity and climate targets post-2020?
- Where, when, why and how are UK peatlands’ extent and condition assessed?
- How are national and regional strategies translated into effective action programmes? UK peatland projects and partnerships share their range of approaches including different delivery models of different ages in different areas.
- Funding, finance and training – what resources are required, available and under development to ensure sustainable favourable outcomes for peatlands in the context of public goods land-management and restoration?
Session recordings from this year's IUCN UK Peatland Programme Conference are now available to watch via our YouTube channel:
- Day 1 - UK and international updates
- Day 2 - Science: informing strategy & action
- Day 3 - A day of virtual field trips
- Day 4 - Finance, funding, learning & training
Registered delegates can continue to view the virtual platform until May 2021.
IUCN UK Peatland Programme Conference 2020 summary:
