Garden sparrowhawk on its favourite perch…….

Garden sparrowhawk on its favourite perch…….

Spring on its way at last……

Spring on its way at last……

The River Don as a recombinant ecological system

The River Don as a recombinant ecological system

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.618371/full?&utm_source=Email_to_authors_&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=T1_11.5e1_author&utm_campaign=Email_publication&field=&journalName=Frontiers_in_Ecology_and_Evolution&id=618371

 

The Carbon Farmer

https://vimeo.com/303463841

The Carbon Farmer | The Top Of The Tree

Press Release – Embargoed until Tuesday 4^th December 00:01am

New film ‘The Carbon Farmer’ paints a bright future for UK Peatland conservation, agriculture and climate action.

Hyperlink to Trailer, and Full Film (more links below).

In their current state the UK’s peatlands are a source of around 20 million tonnes of CO₂ (equivalent) per year – this is the same as the yearly emissions from electricity use in two and a half million homes. A new short film premiers possibilities for achieving a brighter carbon future.

The Carbon Farmer – a sci-fi mocumentary, set roughly 100 years from present day – follows the story of a man whose family have been working the same upland farm, based on peat soils, for generations and have radically evolved in the face of climate change. In a world where tax payer’s money is used to subsidise work to maintain the health of peatlands for numerous public benefits, he and his granddaughter show what could be possible in future – what we could gain, and what we could manage not to lose. Concepts that are, at present, no more than ambitions of conservationists are shown together with plausible advances in technology and agriculture – such as hover bikes and ‘blue’ rice.

Richard Lindsay, Head of Environmental and Conservation Research at the University of East London said: “The Carbon Farmer reveals a whole new avenue of opportunity for farmers of the future.  Farming for carbon means that wet agricultural land which has traditionally been regarded as ‘difficult’… is instead transformed into prime carbon farmland which also provides multiple benefits for the whole of society”

A collaboration of organisations, including: IUCN Peatland Programme; The Wildlife Trusts; the National Trust for Scotland; The National Trust; Moors For The Future Partnership and Beadamoss® Micropropagation Services, supported independent Filmmaker and Ecologist Andy Clark to present a best-practice concept to share through this film. 

Stuart Brooks, Head of Conservation and Policy for the National Trust for Scotland, said: “We hope the Carbon Farmer provides food for thought for our policy makers and heralds in a new era of sustainable peatland use. The national governments of the UK have all committed to peatland conservation and support the IUCN UK Peatland Strategy. This is very encouraging and makes the prospect of the Carbon Farmer more fact than fiction.”

The film release follows the recent Committee on Climate Change report that acknowledged the magnitude of greenhouse gasses currently released from the UK’s degraded peatlands, and also called for reductions in the production and consumption of UK beef and lamb – something which reportedly angered British farmers. The Carbon Farmer suggests a positive future for sustainable agriculture – both in upland peatlands and in the lowlands. The film supports the ideas of ‘payments for ecosystem services’ as a basis for environmental management – a proposed alternative to the current Common Agricultural Policy – and explores alternative cropping solutions for lowland peatland agriculture (referencing (the currently fictional) ‘British Blue Rice’) alongside traditional grazing.

The film ends with the call to action: “Climate Change is not science fiction; our policy on it should not be either. The UK’s peatlands are currently so degraded, they are a source of around 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses annually.  Prioritise peatland restoration for climate, and provide a cascade of public benefits.”

The Carbon Farmer will be publicly released on Tuesday 4^th December, during the COP24 meeting on climate change. 

Ends.

Notes to Editors

For further information or images, please contact Andy Clark, andyclark@thetopofthetree.uk 07919037681.

The film’s trailer went live on Wednesday 28^th November, and can be seen / shared from the following:

https://vimeo.com/302266909/ec287b73ec

https://www.facebook.com/thetopofthetree/videos/763148514062837/

https://twitter.com/TheTopOfTheTree/status/1067685973453099008

The full short film will be publicly released on Tuesday 4^th December, and will be available to be seen at:

https://vimeo.com/thetopofthetree/the-carbon-farmer

https://youtu.be/KAPGQ1wEJ08

https://www.facebook.com/thetopofthetree

https://twitter.com/TheTopOfTheTree

and on the film’s webpage:

http://thetopofthetree.uk/the-carbon-farmer

Peatlands in the context of GHG emissions:

Recent CCC report stated that the UK’s peatlands are a source of 18.5 MtCO2(e) per year: https://www.theccc.org.uk/2018/11/15/reforms-must-prepare-the-uk-countryside-for-climate-change-and-ensure-that-our-use-of-land-supports-reduced-emissions/

Greenhouse gas emission from degraded peatlands have not been considered in previous GHG budget reports.

For the last few years, the UK has been steadily reducing national greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 33Mt CO2(e) per year: https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2017-Report-to-Parliament-Meeting-Carbon-Budgets-Closing-the-policy-gap.pdf

Therefore, the UK’s degraded peatlands are currently negating roughly half of our national efforts to reduce GHG emissions, fight climate change, and adhere to the emissions targets set out in the Paris agreement.

Why are the peatlands a source of CO2(e)?

Peat is a deep, water-logged store of ancient carbon in the form of plant matter than has not decayed. When peat is drained, that carbon begins to oxidise and is released as CO2, among other greenhouse gasses. Over the last 50-60 years, the UK’s peatlands have been extensively drained for agriculture. Earlier this year, Environment Secretary Michael Gove acknowledged that under current levels of drainage and intensity of agriculture, we could have only 30 years of lowland peat soils left before they are lost forever (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/24/uk-30-40-years-away-eradication-soil-fertility-warns-michael-gove).

 For more information on peatlands and peatland restoration:

http://www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org/

http://www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/

Additional Quotes

Producer Andy Clark said: “It should be enough to scare us into immediate and profound action, that the UK’s peatlands are currently undermining half of our annual national efforts to reduce GHG emissions from all other sources, but it’s just not that simple to completely halt all agriculture on 12% of the UK’s land. We have to provide a viable alternative to current management, that still provides food and employment but that, at it’s core, also fundamentally restores and protects these invaluable ecosystems. The Carbon Farmer doesn’t have all the answers to those questions, but I hope that it helps get conversations going in the right direction. We need a future to look forward to, in spite of climate change.”

Chris Dean, Head of programme delivery at Moors For The Future, said: ‘20 million tonnes of carbon is stored in peat in the Peak District National Park, and that’s where we need it to stay.  When I talk to farmers I detect a desire to do the right thing alongside uncertainty about funding.  We need to recognise the public goods that responsible land management provides and make sure this is funded properly.   This film helps us consider the contribution that farmers and land managers make to effective stewardship of their land, for the benefit of us all.  The UK has the opportunity now to support management of the uplands to store carbon.’  

Jonny Hughes, Chief Executive, Scottish Wildlife Trust said: “Peatlands are globally important for their role in storing carbon, supplying clean water and providing homes for rare wildlife but sadly the vast majority of these areas in the UK are damaged. The Carbon Farmer provides a fresh perspective. It shows the immense value of peatlands for wildlife, for people and for our planet, and clearly demonstrates why we should all invest in their restoration.” 

Jack Clough, PhD Student of Wetland Agriculture at the University of East London, said: “The carbon farmer shows us a great vision for the future. A future where we can work with our wetlands to provide much needed carbon savings – whilst also delivering exciting benefits such as new wetland crops.”

Andy Clark

Ecologist, Presenter & Filmmaker

 

Watching out for woodpeckers across the Peak

Gorgeous Grebes across the Peak District

Looking for grebes

Garden woodpeckers

Winter arrives across the gardens

Thorne Moors restoration wins CIEEM award

Kieran is at about 1hr 29 mins in with footage of the moors!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RERf7JP7S4


Ian