Conference 2026: Peatlands Under Pressure

• ~400 delegates at this year’s event. Delegates will be able to join online on Tuesday 9 June only, or in-person for the entire event or individual days.
• Exhibition and networking opportunities at our evening poster session and meal on 9 June, our evening conference dinner on 10 June, and throughout the event.
• Visits to locally important peatland sites on 10 June, including options from a range of peatland habitats, and experience of different management and restoration techniques first-hand in a beautiful landscape.
• Deep-dives into a range of themed topics at our workshop and knowledge-sharing sessions on 11 June.

Tuesday 9 June (live streamed)

• Plenary sessions exploring progress towards national peatland strategy in Wales and how we understand and navigate the challenges peatlands face from development, land management pressures and climate change.
• The return of our ‘Peatland Cinema’, featuring short films from across the peatland community to educate, intrigue and inspire.
• Evening meal and poster session featuring contributions from across the peatland community, alongside our dedicated exhibition space for partners and sponsors.

Wednesday 10 June

• Choose from 8 field trip options to local peatland sites, featuring different peatland habitats, management and restoration techniques and introducing a range of organisations involved in peatland management. Lunch and transport will be provided from the main conference venue and delegates will be required to select field trips in advance on a first come, first served basis. Field trip bookings will be released in May.
• Conference dinner, networking and evening entertainment with the Allan yn Y Fan twmpath band.

Thursday 11 June

• Morning and afternoon topic deep dives across a range of themes including data and monitoring, climate change, wildfire, community and land manager engagement, paludiculture, private finance and horticultural peat. Delegates will be required to select workshops in advance on a first come, first served basis and workshop bookings will be released in May.
• Plenary sessions on private finance and addressing peatland pressures at scale.
• Presentation of the Lindsay Peatland Conservation Award.

Ticket sales have now closed. 

Field visits and workshops / knowledge sharing sessions must be booked in advance of the conference on a first come, first served basis. If you have booked a ticket which includes Day 2 or Day 3, you should have received an email inviting you register your choices. If you have not received this, please contact info@iucn.org.uk. 

Accommodation is not offered as part of our ticket options, and on-campus accommodation bookings have now closed. There are still many accommodation options available off-campus.

Swansea is well connected by public transport, and we encourage our delegates to use low-carbon travel options wherever possible. GWR offer 50% off rail tickets when using their network to travel to the event.

Visit our dedicated travel and accommodation webpage to find out more.

We aim to make our conferences as inclusive and accessible as we can, providing as much information as possible to support our delegates. Here are some key measures to support you if you have accessibility needs.

• A dedicated quiet room on the ground floor of the Great Hall (GH022). If you need to take some time out during the conference, this room will be available throughout, and you can enjoy some of the materials from Peat-Fest South West.
• Wherever possible, we will share session slides in advance, which you can find on our programme pages for Day 1 and Day 3.
• Accessibility information is available for all of our Day 2 field trips to help you choose and plan your visit. Options C and D (Llyn Llech Owain Country Park) are wheelchair accessible. The conference venue is also wheelchair accessible and there are accessible rooms in our on-campus accommodation.

We welcome your feedback, which helps us to continually improve our events. If you would like to provide feedback or have any concerns during the conference, please speak to a member of the IUCN UK Peatland Programme team, who will be wearing wooden name badges so you can distinguish us from other delegates. You can also email info@iucn.org.uk.

Please note: acceptance of an abstract does not include conference registration. If you would like to attend the conference, you will still need to register for a ticket via TicketTailor.

Day 1 of the conference will include a dedicated Poster Session, and we are pleased to share a list of accepted abstracts below.

The poster submission process is now closed. We kindly ask presenters to print their own poster and bring it with them to conference registration on Tuesday 9 June. Posters should be portrait format and A0 size.

If you would like a digital version of your poster to be added to the Peatland Programme website after the conference, email a PDF copy to info@iucn.org.uk by 12 June.

At our 2025 conference, we presented the inaugural ‘Lindsay Peatland Conservation Award’ to Richard Lindsay, in recognition of his contribution to the advancement of peatland knowledge and conservation both in the UK and globally. This year, we welcomed nominations from across the peatland community and the winner will be announced at the conference closing plenary. 

This list includes delegates who have kindly agreed to share their name and organisation. Some have also given permission for their email address to be shared.

Swansea University Bay Campus is ideally situated to explore the nearby city of Swansea, famous Mumbles Mile and the stunning Gower Peninsula.

Crymlyn Burrows is a coastal nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest right next to Bay Campus, with a circular trail running from the car park.

Below are two additional options for self-guided walks accessible by bus, and the Visit Wales website has a great list of things to do in Swansea.