Summary

For more than 20 years, Dr Florence Renou-Wilson has examined the workings of Ireland’s peatlands. These biodiverse natural ecosystems cover around a fifth of the country’s land area and are an important resource for tackling climate change and reducing flood risk.

Leading three major research projects, she has assessed the state of Ireland’s peatlands, explored attitudes towards them, and identified how they can be restored and protected. Recommendations arising from this work directly led to the Government creating its first National Peatlands Strategy. Through collaboration and outreach, Dr Renou-Wilson and colleagues are ensuring that the public and industry benefit from their research findings as well.

Together, these efforts are helping to conserve Ireland’s last true wilderness, tackling the climate crisis, protecting rare habitats and species, and preserving an integral part of Irish culture and history.

Research description

Formed over thousands of years, peat is a type of soil made from partially decayed organic matter. Around 20% of Ireland’s land area is covered by peatland – in the form of bogs and fens – and it’s one of the country’s most precious natural resources.

Peatlands are highly effective natural systems for capturing and storing carbon, and therefore play a vital role in tackling the climate crisis. They boast exceptional biodiversity, they help regulate water flows, and they’ve been an important part of Irish culture for millennia.

Because they touch so many sectors of society, peatlands are difficult to manage. Research by Dr Florence Renou-Wilson seeks to remedy this. By creating policy-relevant evidence, in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, she has spent the past 20 years improving our understanding of these fragile ecosystems and how we can look after them. She has done so by leading three major multidisciplinary research projects:

BOGLAND (2007-2013)

Funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the BOGLAND project revealed the global significance of peatland and showed that efforts to manage them had been unsustainable. It assessed the condition of Ireland’s peatland, explored attitudes towards them, and made 10 critical, evidence-based recommendations, including the need for a National Peatland Strategy, restoration of protected peatlands, and a review of the peat industry.

NEROS (2013-2015)

The NEROS project, also funded by the EPA, explored the climate and biodiversity benefits of “rewetting” peatlands — restoring natural water flow and saturating previously drained peatland, by blocking drainage channels for example. The team showed that rewetting peatland can reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and quickly bring back peat-forming vegetation and associated rare biodiversity. They also identified which peatland sites would benefit most from this.

AUGER (2014-2020)

In a third EPA-funded project, AUGER, Dr Renou-Wilson and her team carried out a nationwide survey of 50 bogs to document the properties of various types of peatlands. They showed how different peatlands are affected by different management options, and the impact this has on carbon and greenhouse-gas emissions. They thereby quantified the impact of human activities on the properties of peat soils and their climate footprint. The variety of peat soils identified through this research clearly supports the need for a site-by-site approach to rewetting.

Dr Renou-Wilson’s work continues with SWAMP (Strategies to improve Water Quality from Managed Peatlands) and a new project called Peat-Hub-Ireland, which will collate evidence to move towards sustainable management of peatland.

Research impact

Political impact (national)

As recommended in the final report of the BOGLAND project, the government published its National Peatlands Strategy in 2015, describing a cross-governmental approach to managing peatland-related issues, such as climate change, forestry, flood control, energy, conservation and agriculture. The country’s approach to looking after this vital natural resource is therefore directly influenced by Dr Renou-Wilson’s research. She and her colleagues are now preparing for the Strategy’s renewal in 2025, reviewing progress toward the recommendations made in 2015.

The development of this Strategy has been informed by the 2011 BOGLAND report.

— National Peatlands Strategy, page 17

Dr Renou-Wilson is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board to the National Peatland Strategy. She is also a member of the Advisory Group to the Peatland Council (a body set up by the government to help Ireland meet the requirements of EU and domestic law relating to the protection of peatland habitats).

In Ireland, peatlands are covered by the 1992 EU Habitats Directive, which requires national governments to specify protected sites for the conservation of wildlife. Dr Renou-Wilson’s research has examined the extent to which this directive has been applied via national policy in Ireland, asking why our peatlands aren’t restored and protected, as they should be. Following this work, she has helped Ireland's National Parks & Wildlife Service to draft site-specific management plans to fulfil Ireland’s requirements under this Directive.

In 2019, she was invited to speak at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate Action, debating with TDs the value of rewetting peatlands. See the Oireachtas website for the TV debate and transcript.

Political impact (international)

Dr Renou-Wilson has used her findings and expertise to contribute to international efforts to tackle climate change. For example, she was a lead author of the 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Wetlands Supplement, and a contributing author of the 2019 IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land. Her research was cited in the Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC

Ireland is committed to net zero emissions by 2050. To assess progress, we need to report national emissions to various international bodies (like the UN and European regulators). Without research from the AUGER project, and associated review publication, the EPA would have to estimate emissions from peatlands using default figures from other countries — a poor substitute for the nuanced data given by the research.

Social and cultural impact

Dr Renou-Wilson and other members of the project teams are committed to empowering local communities with knowledge about the importance of peatlands and how they can be managed. They engage and collaborate with communities via NGOs, county councils and local groups, to share knowledge and deliver stakeholder-specific messages.

Their work also informs wider audiences about peatlands through the mainstream media. For example, recent research on CO2 emissions from peatland soils was discussed the Irish Times and the Irish Farmers Journal. Work on wetland depletion has also appeared in the Irish Times, and in NASA Earth Observatory, The Guardian and earth.com.

On TV, Dr Renou-Wilson shared knowledge on RTÉ's Hot Air: Ireland's Climate Crisis and 10 Things to Know About: Soils, as well as various episodes of Eco Eye.

The team’s infographic, The Amazing Carbon Storage of Ireland’s Peatlands, has been shared extensively across social media and other channels, raising awareness of how this unique resource stores more carbon than any other soils.

Economic impact

Since the beginning of her career, Dr Renou-Wilson’s research has sought to provide solutions that can be applied by land owners, managers and other industry bodies. This includes the agricultural sector, the state-owned forestry company Coillte (since many peatlands are forested), the peat-extraction industry, and Bord na Móna, the semi-state company historically involved in the extraction and use of peat for energy, but which more recently invests wind and solar power. Irish Water and local water schemes are also benefiting from the research: by learning how to manage peatlands, they can optimise surface and drinking water quality.

Crucially, Dr Renou-Wilson’s research brings these and other organisations together, to ensure that discussions about the future of peatland involve all parties with an interest in them.

There is a wealth of existing research about peatlands doesn't yet exist online, limiting access for those who might benefit from it. Dr Renou-Wilson and colleagues are in the process of digitising this information, meaning companies can draw on academic research to make better-informed decisions about peatlands, saving them time and money.

Environmental and health impact

By informing policy and raising awareness, Dr Renou-Wilson’s research projects are improving our ability to manage and protect peatlands. In doing so, she is helping tackle climate change, protect ecosystems, reduce the risk of flooding, and maintain integral part of Irish culture and history.