Peatland ACTION - Scotland's Peatland Standard
The draft of Scotland's Peatland Standard is currently available for comment through an open consultation. This document will provide a technical framework consisting of Objectives, Principles, Requirements, and Guidance. This framework will ensure that activities are more successful in protecting, managing, and restoring peatlands.
Scotland’s Peatland Standard will improve efficiency and effectiveness by encouraging innovation, matching actions to local circumstances, and ensure consistency of approach in decision-making.
It will support a broad audience, including regulators, land managers, and practitioners, that are engaged in peatland activities. It will provide a framework for stakeholder discussion and empowering decision-makers.
We hope that Scotland’s Peatland Standard will present a shared vision for Scotland's peatlands – healthy and resilient to climate change and delivering significant ecosystem services.
Scotland's Peatland Standard is being developed with peatland restoration practitioners, scientific advisors, and regulators. The information within the draft has been developed by drawing together current scientific knowledge, observational evidence, and expert opinion.
The timeline to develop Scotland’s Peatland Standard is:
- Open consultation from 21st May until 28th August 2026
- Analysis of responses in September and October 2026.
- We aim to finalise and publish in December 2026.
We encourage all peatland stakeholders to participate in the consultation and contribute to shaping Scotland’s Peatland Standard.
Duration
01:54
Short video will help you to respond to consultation of the draft of Scotland's Peatland Standard.
Scope - Scotland's Peatland Standard
Summary
NatureScot and partners are developing Scotland's Peatland Standard (SPS) to provide technical guidance to promote the protection, restoration, and management of peatlands across Scotland. It will set out legal, essential, and good-practice requirements.
A set of overarching principles will guide activities, while promoting efficiencies and consistency. The principles and the requirements will support regulators, land managers, and practitioners by providing a shared framework for decision-making.
Scotland's Peatland Standard will define clear distinctions between aftercare – the minimal upkeep of restoration work during the early stages of recovery- and management – land use activities carried out to support peatland function or to achieve other land use objectives without compromising peatland function. It will also help align practices across incentive and regulatory systems, including development, forestry, agriculture, and sporting management, and clarify roles and responsibilities for mitigating the impacts of a changing climate.
Scotland's Peatland Standard aims to
- Provide leadership on technical matters to improve practices for protecting, managing, and restoring Scotland's peatlands.
- Give a peatland-centric confirmation of Scottish Government policy and how this interacts with and supports work to care for our peatlands
- Provide mechanisms to positively influence decision-making during the planning and implementation of land-use activities that could affect peatlands.
Who is Scotland's Peatland Standard for?
The intention is for Scotland's Peatland Standard to be used by a broad range of stakeholders, including but not limited to; landowners, land managers, contractors, practitioners, communities, regulators, funders, investors, involved in peatland activities.
Scotland’s Peatland Standard aims to:
- Clarify Statutory legislation and regulatory requirements
- Support decision-making that safeguards and enhances peatland function
In doing this, the standard aims to:
- Improve the quality and consistency of peatland protection, management, and restoration.
- Align approaches across sectors, including conservation, agriculture, forestry, sporting management, development, planning and consenting processes.
What Scotland's Peatland Standard does not:
- The standard does not introduce new legal obligations.
- Duplicate information that will be contained within the Technical Compendium or the forthcoming Decision Trees.
Development of Scotland’s peatland standard
NatureScot has developed Scotland’s Peatland Standard in collaboration with delivery partners, regulators, scientific advisers and practitioners in 2024/2025. Development has drawn on:
- Technical expertise from the Peatland ACTION programme and the Technical Advice Working Group,
- Practitioner experience from peatland restoration and land management across Scotland
- Current scientific evidence on peatland function, degradation, and recovery,
- Engagement with stakeholders across land management, development, conservation, and regulatory sectors.
Next steps:
Spring 2026 - Begin the period of open consultation in May 2026
Winter 2026 - Publication of Scotland's Peatland Standard.
This timeline accords with the draft Climate Change Plan proposal to consult on and launch Scotland's Peatland Standard in 2026.
The open consultation
Publish updated draft of the Standard with explanatory material. It will invite comments on both the principles and the requirements/best practices.
Involve webinars and targeted workshops (e.g. land managers, regulators, developers, community landholders, conservation partners) to explore practical implications and proportionality.
Updates on how to participate in the open consultation will be provided on the NatureScot -Peatland ACTION Scotland's Peatland Standard web page, as well as in relevant industry publications.
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