An international team of researchers – including Dr Ritesh Kumar, Director of Wetlands International South Asia – has identified the most urgent unanswered research questions about peatland ecosystems, providing a global roadmap that can guide future science and policy to help save one of the planet’s most important and threatened ecosystems.

The study published in Communications Earth & Environment involved input from 467 participants across 54 countries to determine which research questions matter most for understanding and protecting peatlands. By surveying and analysing opinion from international peatland experts, the research highlights where knowledge gaps exist and where new information could make the biggest impact in for climate mitigation, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable land management.

Peatlands only cover about three per cent of the Earth’s land surface but store more carbon than all of its forests. When healthy, they lock away carbon for thousands of years, but drainage, fire, extraction or land-use change can quickly turn them into a large source of greenhouse gas emissions. Despite their importance, we still lack key knowledge about how peatlands respond to climate change, how to restore them effectively, and how to protect them while supporting the local and Indigenous communities who rely on them.

“This exercise is a great example of what we can do when we bring our brains together, and these questions will become a very relevant guide for the work of the Peatland Breakthrough – an ambitious global initiative to bring partners together to rally political will, accelerate action and mobilise money for healthy peatlands,” added Hernandez.

A global effort to set research priorities

To address this challenge, the researchers carried out a global survey of peatland scientists, practitioners and policy experts from across the globe. Each of them was asked what they thought were the most pressing, unanswered questions across peatland research. This included questions around everything from ecology and hydrology to biogeochemistry, climate science and social science. The questions selected capture priorities across a range of boreal, temperate, and tropical peatlands, including:

• What is the global extent and distribution of peatlands, including those in areas that are currently poorly mapped?
• What are the tipping points at which some peatlands shift from carbon sinks to carbon sources, what techniques can be used to determine tipping points and what factors make some peatlands more resistant to change than others?
• What are the most effective approaches to integrate traditional ecological knowledge or knowledge from Indigenous peoples into sustainable peatland management and restoration, and can this approach enhance the success of restoration efforts?
• How can remote sensing and other existing and emerging technologies (including AI) be used to improve our understanding of peatland dynamics, support peatland monitoring and management, and address the challenges of peatland research?
• How can global environmental initiatives incentivise peatland management in equitable and just ways that benefit and empower local communities and organisations as agents of change, whilst optimising climate, biodiversity, and ecosystem services?

What the researchers say

“Peatlands are increasingly recognised as critical ecosystems for climate action, but we still don’t have all the answers we need to manage them effectively. By identifying the most urgent research questions, this work helps focus global effort,” said Dr Alice Milner, Associate Professor at Royal Holloway University of London, UK and lead author of the study.

“This global survey revealed how much common ground exists among people working with peatlands around the world. Bringing these voices together has allowed us to focus our collective effort on the questions that matter most, and to begin tackling them together,” said Dr Julie Loisel, Associate Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, USA, and co-author of the study.

Interest in peatlands has grown rapidly in recent years as countries look for nature-based solutions to help meet climate targets. Peatland protection and restoration feature increasingly in national climate strategies in countries such as the UK, Ireland, Indonesia, Canada, and Finland, and peatlands are now on the agenda of international climate and biodiversity frameworks. However, the authors warn that without clear research priorities, investment risks being fragmented and short-term, potentially undermining long-term outcomes.

“Restoring peatlands is not as simple as just ‘rewetting’,” said Dr Michelle McKeown, Lecturer in Environmental Geography at University College Cork, Ireland and co-author of the study. “There are important trade-offs, uncertainties, and regional differences that we still don’t fully understand. These priority questions help ensure that peatland management is helping, not harming, climate and biodiversity goals.”

Importantly, the priority questions extend beyond biophysical science. Many focus on governance, land-use decision-making, and the role of Indigenous and local knowledge in peatland management; areas that have historically received less attention in global research agendas.

“Peatlands are not empty landscapes. They are lived-in, worked landscapes with deep cultural significance. This is particularly true in the tropics, where peatlands can be a resource – sometimes the only one – that provides livelihoods, so it is important that as researchers we acknowledge this and provide answers that are useful to these communities too,” said Professor Angela Gallego-Sala from the University of Exeter, UK, and co-author of the study.

Dr Monika Ruwaimana, co-author of the study and Lecturer at Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta, Indonesia added: “As someone who grew up in tropical peatland landscapes, it is encouraging to see the global research community paying attention to these ecosystems. This progress reflects a collective effort that has developed over decades, gradually shifting perspectives on the importance of peatlands in the global carbon cycle, from local communities working in the field to international researchers and policymakers.”

From research to action

The authors hope the priority list will be used by the peatland research community, funding agencies, research institutions, and policymakers to guide international collaboration, investment and future research.

“Peatlands can either help stabilise the climate or accelerate its change,” said Dr McKeown. “Which path we take depends on the knowledge we build, and how quickly we act on it.”