Scotland's Peatland Standard - Consultation draft

Scotland has around two million hectares of peatlands representing around a quarter of Scotland’s land surface.  Healthy peatlands provide a wide range of ecosystem services and benefits. They play a critical as well as their role in mitigating climate change by capturing and storing atmospheric carbon and helping us to adapt to a changing climate. Peatlands are also rich in biodiversity, often supporting unique species that are specially adapted to this habitat.

About this consultation

The development of the draft Scotland's Peatland Standard aims to provide a framework for the protection, management and restoration of peatland in Scotland. 

Scotland's Peatland Standard fulfils the commitment made in Scotland's Climate Change Plan: 2026–2040  that “in 2026, we will consult on and launch Scotland’s Peatland Standard which will ensure quality and consistent peatland restoration standards".

What we are asking

NatureScot has been working with stakeholders to develop this first iteration of Scotland's Peatland Standard.  Given that we are exploring a new concept within a complex operating environment, we want to draw as many views as possible from different people operating in the sector.  These views will inform the development of Scotland's Peatland Standard and ensure it does what it sets out to do.    

Thus, we are now asking for your input on this first draft and are inviting comments from anyone with an interest in Scotland’s peatlands, including practitioners, land managers, regulators, funders, researchers, and members of the public.

This consultation will help us consider the changes that needed before publication at the end of 2026 to make sure Scotland's Peatland Standard works.

We are seeking your views on whether the draft is:

• Navigable – how clear and accessible is its scope, structure and presentation?
• Ambitious – how feasible are the objectives and outcomes it is seeking to progress?
• Adding value – how complete and proportionate is its content – the principles and requirements – and is it adding value beyond current operational guidance?
• Useable – How effective will it be as a tool for supporting decision-making?
• Complete – have we missed anything that should be included, and is the level of detail balanced?
• In context – could the standard lead to unintended consequences beyond its peatland protection, management and restoration remit.
• Balanced – overall, is the standard balanced in its presentation of background, objectives, principles, requirements and supporting information

How to respond

The draft Scotland’s Peatland Standard is available to read on this web page. 

Please submit your responses using the online response form. 

There are a total 37 questions. The first three questions are required, and after that you do not need to answer every question. Please respond to those most relevant to your experience and role. Most questions have supplementary text boxes for your comments. 

The consultation opened on 21 May 2026 and closes at noon on Friday 28 August 2026.

Responses received after the closing date may not be considered before the publication.

What happens next

A summary of consultation responses will be published following the close of the consultation period, setting out the key themes raised and how they will inform the published Standard.

We aim to publish the first version of Scotland’s Peatland Standard before the end of 2026.

Contact

If you have any questions about this consultation, please email us: [email protected] 

We will be providing webinar sessions to answer any questions you have about how to respond using the Questionnaire on 24^th June from 14:00hrs until 15:00hrs, 3^rd July from 10:00hrs until 11:00hrs, and 3^rd August from 15:30hrs until 16:30hrs. How to book your place will be advertised on our social channels nearer the time.

Acrotelm 
The surface layer of an active peat-forming mire, composed of the most recently deposited material, within which the water table fluctuates and where water moves more freely than in lower peat layers.  See also Catotelm.

Activity
A planned single or a set of actions undertaken over a long period of time on a peatland site with the aim of implementing one or a combination of the activity pathways.  In all cases, the activity should have defined objectives and identifiable outcomes against which progress can be assessed.

Aftercare 
Follow up activities are termed “aftercare” to differentiate them from the activities carried out within the management activity pathway.  Aftercare remedies relate specifically to the restoration techniques used and could be many years after the activity. 

Amorphous 
Amorphous peat is a highly decomposed, organic-rich soil where original plant structures have broken down, resulting in a dark, compact, and plastic material when wet.

Appropriate assessment 
Regulation 48 of The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994, as amended, requires an authority, before deciding to undertake, or give any consent, permission or other authorisation for certain plans or projects likely to have a significant effect on a European site in Great Britain (either alone or in combination with other plans or projects), to make an ‘appropriate assessment’ of the implications for the site in view of that site’s conservation objectives (Reference National Planning Framework 4).

Biodiversity (or biological diversity) 
The variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems (UN Convention on Biological Diversity).

Biomass 
Biomass is biological material derived from living or recently living organisms.

Blanket bog
Bog habitat which deposits expanses of peat that blanket the landscape. Includes both active and degraded versions of this habitat with semi-natural vegetation.

Bog 
A mire which derives all its water supply from rain, snow or mist. Names in Gaelic include Bog; boglach; carr; fèithe; mòine; Mòinteach; poll. See also ‘Mire’.

Buffer 
A buffer is a strip/zone, a designated area of land, located adjacent to a sensitive feature, designed to act as a protective barrier against environmental damage. 

Bulk density 
Also called apparent density, is the mass of the bulk material divided by its bulk volume.

Carbon-rich soils Organo-mineral and peat soils are known as carbon-rich soils. A peat soil is defined in Scotland as when soil has an organic layer at the surface which is more than 50cm deep (see ‘organo-mineral soil’ or ‘peaty soil’ and ‘humus soils’).  

Carbon sequestration 
The long-term removal, capture, or sequestration of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to slow or reverse atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution and to mitigate or reverse climate change.

Carbon sink 
A carbon sink is a natural or artificial reservoir that accumulates and stores CO2 for an indefinite period.

Carbon Flux
Carbon flux is the rate and direction of carbon exchange - specifically carbon dioxide CO2 between the soil and the atmosphere.

Catotelm 
The lower layer of an active peat forming mire which remains permanently waterlogged, and through which water usually moves less freely.  See also Acrotelm.

Compaction 
Peat has unique combination of properties: low bulk density, high porosity, and due to the structure of its pores. Soil compaction reduces the pore space within soil and may reduce the volume of peat soil (compression). This can restrict water infiltration into the soil, reduce water storage capacity, increase soil bulk density and may reduce peat depth.

Compensation 
EIA and EcIA guidance define this term as: Measures taken to offset the loss of, or permanent damage to, ecological features despite mitigation.  In NPF4 this is referred to as offsetting.

Conservation area
Areas which has special architectural or historic interest that are considered worthy of protection. Their selection, assessment and designations are carried out by the planning authority. 

Cultural significance
Aesthetic, historic, scientific or social value for past, present or future generations. Cultural significance can be embodied in a place itself, its fabric, setting, use, associations, meanings, records, related places and related objects.

Decomposition Peat soils develop where plant growth exceeds plant decomposition, and this commonly occurs where the anoxic conditions associated with waterlogging hinder the breakdown of plant material.

Drought stress 
A condition that occurs when a plant doesn't have enough water, which can be caused by a lack of rainfall or high temperatures.

Ecology 
The relationships between organisms living things and their environment.

Ecological function
A term used to describe the roles organisms or processes play in an ecosystem.

Ecological processes 
Are the dynamic attributes of ecosystems, including interactions among organisms and interactions between organisms and their environment. Ecological processes are the basis for ecosystem self-maintenance. Ecosystem functions can also refer to those dynamic attributes which most directly affect metabolism, principally the sequestering and transformation of energy, nutrients, and moisture. 

Ecological protection 
To protect ecology from harm or damage.  This would include protecting the ecosystem’s functions and health.  Effective protection should maintain the level of ‘ecosystem services’ provided. 

Ecological recovery
The state or condition of key ecosystem attributes relative to the reference ecosystem, that can be partial or full.

Ecological repair
Repairing a single mechanism or mechanism within the wider ecological function.   

Ecological restoration
The process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed.

Ecosystem
All the living things (plants, animals, and people) and process in an area and the way they affect each other and the environment.

Ecosystem function
The ecological and physicochemical processes that occur within an ecosystem. See Ecological processes.

Ecosystem health 
Is a measure of the status or condition of ecosystems. The state or condition of an ecosystem in which its dynamic attributes are expressed within ‘normal’ ranges of activity relative to its ecological stage of development. 

Ecosystem services
The direct and indirect processes or materials such as clean water, energy, climate regulation, and nutrient cycling that are naturally provided by ecosystems for human health and quality of life. Also known as ecological services or ‘natural capital’.

Enhancement 
Enhancement of biodiversity, including by restoring degraded habitats and building and strengthening nature networks.  This requirement is to provide significant biodiversity enhancements for development falling under NPF4 Policy 3b, these measures are in addition to the restoration and offsetting requirements. 

Erosion
Peat erosion starts with the loss of peat vegetation cover. Vegetation can be damaged by natural processes which can be made worse by inappropriate land management practices such as unsuitable draining or burning of the land, trampling by animals and people and by pollution.

Evaporation
The process of a liquid changing to a gas.

Evapotranspiration
Combined loss of water to the air by evaporation from the soil or surface water and transpiration from plants and animals. 

Fen
Fens receive water from surface runoff and/or groundwater in addition to direct atmospheric deposition. A ‘lagg’ fen is immediately adjacent to a raised bog.

Flush / Flushes 
Area where water from underground – called groundwater – flows out onto the surface to create freshwater and wetland habitats.

Geomorphology 
The branch of geology that describes with the structure, origin, and development of the topographical features of the earth's surface.

Grazing / Browing
When an herbivore eats grass and other herbaceous plants or different parts of woody vegetation.

Groundwater
Water which is below the surface of the ground in the saturation zone and in direct contact with the ground or subsoil.

Groundwater Dependant Terrestrial Ecosystems (GWDTEs)
GWDTE are a category of wetlands, which derive their water supply primarily from a groundwater body, rather than deriving their water from rain and surface water saturated soils. 

Gully
Gullies are channels cut through peatland usually by running water.

Habitat Impact Assessment
Habitat Impact Assessment as explained in Best Practice Guidance is a methodology for measuring and assessing current impact of grazing on habitats. (The term is often used interchangeably with Herbivore Impact Assessment).

Hag (g)
Cliff edge peat features where peat has eroded to leave a vertical face. Can be single edge features or connect to form isolated islands with an eroding face on all sides.

Herbivore
An organism that feeds mostly on plants.

Herbivore Impact Assessment (HIA)
A survey method used to monitor and assess the effects of large herbivores on habitats by measuring indicators such as browsing, grazing and trampling to inform land management. (The term is often used interchangeably with Habitat Impact Assessment).

Hibernacula 
Hibernacula are features (typically below ground) that some species use throughout the winter to conserve energy and protect themselves from the cold.

Historic environment
The historic environment is ‘the physical evidence for human activity that connects people with place, linked with the associations we can see, feel and understand’.

Historic environment asset
An asset (or ‘historic asset’ or ‘heritage asset’) is a physical element of the historic environment – a building, monument, site, place, area or landscape identified as having cultural significance.

Holocene
The Holocene is the current geological epoch, representing the last ~11,700 years of Earth’s history following the end of the last major ice age

Hydrological connectivity
The physical linkage of water and sediment which facilitates the transfer of matter, energy, and organisms within, or between elements of the hydrologic cycle.

Hydrology
The study of water on Earth to understand its distribution, circulation and presence.

Hydrophobic
In relation to soil, tending to repel water, or rather than absorbing, causing run off.

Impacts
These can be direct or indirect which result in changes to functioning of the habitat/soil or loss of the habitat/soil.

Intact Peatland
A peatland which has formed naturally and has not been modified.  It may be degraded through the natural processes of peat formation.

Local Development Plan (LDP) 
A plan produced by every authority in Scotland, forming the other component of the statutory development plan alongside NPF4. They set out land use policies and proposals, specific to each local authority.

Management
Peat management refers to the responsible stewardship or handling of peat, for example preventative, or protective (of carbon), by  minimising disturbance, compaction, or the responsible management of browsing herbivores on a landscape scale or peatland development and restoration in a transparent and accountable manner. 

Microbes
Microbes (or microorganisms) are tiny living things that can only be seen with a microscope. Main types include bacteria, viruses and fungi.

Microbial
Relating to or caused by microbes.

Minimise
Reducing the impacts.

Mire 
A wetland that supports peat-forming vegetation.  Some people use this this term to include wetlands on mineral soils.

Mitigation Hierarchy – NPF4
Indicates the order in which the impacts of development should be considered and addressed. 

These are:

i.            Avoid – by removing the impact at the outset 

ii.           Minimise – by reducing the impact 

iii.          Restore – by repairing damaged habitats 

iv.          Offset – by compensating for the residual impact that remains, with preference to on-site over off-site measures.

Modifications
Many peatlands have been modified by human activity to support other land uses, including drainage, burning, over-grazing and afforestation. 

Monitoring
Monitoring of an activity as part of a management system, key functions of this role include monitoring performance and compliance and providing leadership. 

National Planning Framework 4
National spatial strategy for Scotland. It sets out Scotland's spatial principles, regional priorities, national developments and 33 specific national planning policies that directly influence all planning decisions. 

Nature network
A Nature Network is a joined-up system of places important for wild plants and animals, on land and in water. It allows plants, animals, seeds, nutrients and water to move from place to place and enables the natural world to adapt to change, providing plants and animals with places to live, feed and breed. 

Negative indicator species
Organisms - often plants - that signify poor habitat quality, degradation, or intense disturbance within an ecosystem. They typically thrive in environments with low biodiversity, high nutrient levels, or unsuitable management, often acting as competitive, dominant, or invasive species. Their presence indicates a need for management intervention. See Assessing outcomes chapter for more information.

Natural Capital 
Natural capital refers to the stock of natural resources on Earth, encompassing both renewable and non-renewable sources. Understanding the relationship a farm has with its natural capital assets through a natural capital assessment can help make informed on-farm decisions.

Offsetting
Measures designed to compensate for a residual impact, in a development proposal. 

Ombrotrophic
Dependent upon atmospheric sources (mainly precipitation) for the supply of water and nutrients.

Organo-mineral 
Organo-mineral and peat soils are known as carbon-rich soils.  A peat soil is defined in Scotland as when soil has an organic layer at the surface which is more than 50cm deep.  These are mineral soils but also considered to be carbon rich.

Oxidation
The process of a substance or chemical element oxidizing. In the context of peatlands this refers to the loss of water.

Palaeoecology 
The study of fossil animals and plants to deduce their ecology and the environmental conditions in which they lived.

Peat
Peat is defined as the partially decomposed remains of plants and soil organisms which have accumulated at the surface of the soil profile.

Peat Mantles
Peat deposits are a mantle which sits above rock, gravel or clays.

Peat pipe
An underground, natural channel or tunnel that forms within peat, acting as a drain that allows water through flow or outlet.

Peat slide
Medium to large-scale landslides in which failure initiates as large rafts of material which subsequently break down into smaller blocks and slurry.

Peat soil

In Scotland is defined as soil with a surface peat layer with more than 60% organic matter and of at least 50cm thickness. (often termed organic soils)

Peatland
Under NPF4, peatland is “defined by the presence of peat soil or peaty soil types. This means that “peat-forming” vegetation is growing and actively forming peat or it has been grown and formed peat at some point in the past”. 

Peatland Bounds
The physical extent of peat-forming ecosystems.

Peatland Habitat
There are four main natural peatland habitat types in Scotland: blanket bog, raised bog, fen and bog woodland.

Peatland Restoration
Carrying out a planned activity which in combination with natural processes restores the hydrological function and coverage and good condition of priority peatland habitat vegetation, resulting in a peatland that is actively forming peat and sequestering carbon.

Phenology
The study of life cycle events of living organisms on Earth. Plant community phenology studies the timing of recurring biological life cycle events - such as budding, leafing, flowering, and senescence - across a group of species. 

Poaching (vegetation) 
Severe damage to soil and pasture caused by animal hooves (especially cattle) in wet conditions, creating compacted, muddy, and waterlogged ground. 

Positive indicator species
A positive indicator species is an organism whose presence, thriving population, or high abundance indicates a healthy, unpolluted, or specific high-quality habitat. Their sustained presence acts as a reliable biological sign that environmental conditions are stable and ecologically valuable. See Assessing outcomes chapter for more information.

Priority Peatland Habitat
Peatlands support a variety of habitats and important biodiversity.  Some are identified as a priority habitat in the UK BAP, Scottish Biodiversity List and Annex 1 of the ‘Habitats Directive’ and are protected. 

Protect 
Ensuring that the natural features of special interest (peatlands and all biodiversity therein) within a designated area remain in good health, now and in the future.

Proxy
Proxies are measurable indicators that reliably stand in for or represent the broader condition, function or process that cannot be directly measured. Examples include, water tables, vegetation, used to infer the habitats health. 

Raised bog
Bog habitat which is characterised by an accumulation of peat that rises above the surrounding landscape often in lowland wet floodplains and/or often over the surface of existing fen peat. 

RAMSAR sites
Wetlands designated under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance.

Redox Status
Redox status (short for reduction-oxidation) refers to the balance between oxygen availability and electron activity in the soil. It is a measure of how "aerated" (oxidized) or "waterlogged" the soil is, which directly impacts the behaviour of chemicals and nutrients.

Rehabilitation
Generic term used for ecological repair activities that aim to restore ecosystem functioning but does not aim to bring back the full suite of species and attributes of a native reference system. This may be because native ecosystem recovery is not possible due to the consideration of other objectives. This may apply to sites that have been highly modified for a long time.

Reinstatement
Use of peat on-site in construction or reinstatement e.g. restoration of hardstanding areas, borrow pits, road verges, peatland restoration etc. or off-site to restore peatland areas. This form of peat use involves protecting excavated peat, and returning it to where it was taken from, in its original order (acrotelm overlying catotelm). This can restore the hydrology to support peatland, providing that best practice is followed.

Remediation Activities
Any remediation activity to address land contamination. The removal of contaminants, pollutants or other similar types of threats. This also includes the repairing of damage to soil, water and sediments, or the removal of non-native trees.

Replacement
Involves establishing a crop or a different habitat than was originally found on the site.  Not generally compatible with the objectives of restoration but could be for management.  Replacement may compromise or reduce the ecosystem functional health of the peatland.

Restoration activities
Interventions that have the goal of achieving substantial ecosystem recovery towards the reference ecosystem.

Restoration ecology
The science that supports the practice of ecological restoration, from other forms of environmental repair in seeking to assist recovery of native ecosystems and ecosystem integrity. 

Restore
Repairing damaged habitats.

Revegetate
Revegetation of bare peat involves using techniques that aim to stop or reverse bare areas of peat surfaces, so that they are protected from erosion, stabilising the peat surface in the process. Using peat and/or peatland vegetation that has been excavated during the construction of a development; often surrounding windfarm infrastructure, or for landscaping. This form of peat use will often result in revegetation but unlikely to be peatland, however, it can have a role in protecting the surrounding peatland and conserving carbon and biodiversity providing that best practice is followed. This is likely to have higher carbon emissions than reinstate.

Schedule monument
Archaeological sites or monuments of national importance that are legally protected under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979

Snagging
Process of inspection necessary to compile a list of minor defects or omissions in works for the contractor to rectify.

Sphagnum moss
A non-vascular plant that thrive in wet areas (such as bogs) where their remains become compacted with other plant debris to form peat. 

Tipping point (Degradation)
When a peatland is degrading, a tipping point is ultimately reached when the net carbon balance switches from a sink to a source, compromising the long-term stocks and storage of carbon. Can lead to loss of keystone species and the disruption in the complex feedback mechanisms that govern peatland functions.

Tipping point (Restoration)
This is when the recovery of the peatland during the restoration process reaches a point of no return, barring any additional stressors or modifications being introduced. The natural recovery processes are strong enough for the optimal ecological functions to be restored in time. 

Topography
The physical shape and features of the land surface appearance of the natural features of an area of land, especially the shape of its surface.

Use of peat
Using peat and/or peatland vegetation that has been excavated during the construction of a development, for a suitable purpose.  Use of peat, of appropriate volumes of peat and or peatland vegetation can be carried out for Reinstatement, Revegetation and Peatland Restoration.

Waste
A substance or object is considered waste when the holder discards it, intends to discard it, or is required to discard it. In the context of peatland activities, this includes any excavated or removed material that the holder cannot or will not use on the site of excavation and that must therefore be disposed of, treated, or managed under applicable waste regulations.

Water table
Boundary between the unsaturated zone and the saturated zone underground. Below the water table, groundwater fills any spaces between sediments and within rock. Water table can be at or above the surface if visible water is present.

Woodland
Land under stands of trees with a canopy cover of at least 20%, or having the potential to achieve this, including integral open space, and including felled areas that are awaiting restocking (replanting). The minimum area is 0.1 ha and there is no minimum height.

World heritage sites
Internationally important cultural and/or natural heritage sites which have been inscribed for their “Outstanding Universal Value”.

Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS)
Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers Scotland (ALGAO) 
The Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM)
Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM)
The Construction Industry Research & Information Association (CIRIA)
Digital Elevation Model (DEM)
Environmental Authorisations Scotland Regulations 2018 (EASR)
Ecological Clerk of Works (ECoW)
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
Forest Industry Safety Accord (FISA)
Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC)
Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
Groundwater Dependant Terrestrial Ecosystems (GWDTE)
Habitat (or Herbivore) Impact Assessment (HIA)
Habitat Regulations Appraisal (HRA)
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)
Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)
National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4)
Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECM)
Private water supplies (PWS)
Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Scottish Archaeological Research Framework (ScARF)
Scotland’s Environmental and Rural Services (SEARS)
Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
Scottish Natural Heritage (NatureScot) (SNH)
Special protected Areas (SPA)
Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
Scottish and Southern Energy (SSEN)
Scottish Power Energy Networks (SPEN)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
UK Forestry Standard (UKFS)
Unexploded ordnance (UXO)
 

C-1     Principles are often used in decision processes when there are complex factors determining whether objectives are achieved. This is especially true when specifications must be adapted for local circumstances and flexibility is required.

C-2     Principles can also help guide innovation and improvement of techniques, whilst also ensuring Sub-optimal approaches are not used. Some decision making in other mature sectors can rely on regularly reviewed detailed technical specifications. This is not the case in peatland protection, restoration or management, with many of the outcomes not evidenced.

C-3     Principles can also help assess what trade-offs are acceptable when balancing the benefits of carrying out an activity, versus the negative impact of doing so. 

C-4     The principles by essence need to be non-specific to be relevant across as wide a scope as possible. They could be viewed on a scale of broad/general grading to detailed/specific – where the principles are at one extreme and the specifications on the other.

C-5     The principles have been developed in a peatland sector context using the high-level principles as set out in International principles and standards for the practice of ecological restoration (second edition, published in 2019 in Restoration Ecology journal vol 27, No. S1, pp. S1-S46).  

The Seven Universal Principles and Activity Pathway Specific Principles – Explanation, Interpretation and Clarification

C-6   Most of the principles fall within two main types - avoiding the introduction of threats or stressors on the peatland function and carrying out actions that would improve the natural processes that drive or maintain function.

C-7    Each principle is stated below, with explanations, clarifications, and examples given of their application. These are not exhaustive and so should still be applied in more circumstances than are listed. 

C-8    The principles are listed in order of necessity. In terms of high-level priorities, the most immediate action is to protect what is already there, followed by managing out threats to existing peatlands, then to restore ecosystem function to modified peatlands and lastly manage highly eroded peatlands since they cannot be fully restored. The most important decision of all is to decide whether an activity is required or not.

Scotland’s Peatland Standard’s Universal Principles

The following section provides in depth explanation, clarity and examples on how to apply the universal principles. 

1. Obtain Knowledge of the Specific Peatland and How it Functions so that Potential Impacts and the Effectiveness of Actions are Fully Understood

C-9     Explanation: Adopt a whole system integrated approach to achieve multiple benefits. This means that the surrounding land uses and habitats should be considered in preparing plans to meet the objectives of plans and activities to help care for peatlands. The interactions between each land use or habitat should be identified and understood when making decisions. 

C-10     Clarity: This also means that the surrounding land uses should consider the possible negative impacts that they could present to the peatlands function. It is important to reference the objectives and other principles when making decisions. Scotland’s Peatland Standard provides an introduction to the information required to do this.

C-11     Applications: Any instances where peatlands may be affected. Examples include when deciding upon grazing regimes, wildfire mitigation and plans and implementation actions.  Also, when complying with: NPF4, Forest Plans, Woodland Creation projects, cross compliance including GAEC, environmental conditionality link to support payments, Peatland Management Plans and Habitat Management Plans, river basin management plans, peatland restoration proposals, Protected Area plans. 

2. Consider the Impact of Activities on a Short - and Long-term Basis

C-12    Explanation: Peatlands are ancient. Indicators or measurement of positive or negative change in peatland function often takes a long time to present and identify. Actions taken to protect, maintain and restore peatlands should be sustainable and long lasting.

C-13    Clarity: Innovative methods or actions can still be used if there is no evidence of success recorded.

C-14    Applications: When proposing activities during design and implementation of restoration proposals, considering impacts of developments on natural processes and the soil properties and the consider the other principles.

3. Carry out Actions only When they are Required to meet the Objectives for Protection, Management, and/or Restoration.

C-15    Explanation: The aim of this principle is to help decide when to intervene; to protect, manage or restore peatlands. It is to ensure that activities are only carried out if there is a clear benefit in doing so. The intention is also to prevent unnecessary activities that could compromise the peatland’s functions. For example, it may be counterproductive to compact and disturb peatland vegetation as this can trigger the alter the hydrological conditions and soil properties that support the desirable peatland specific species. It may also trigger the development of surface erosion.

C-16    Clarification: This should not be interpreted as a reason not to carry out activities when they are required to meet the objectives. This principle is intended to provide a balanced steer, empower professional judgement and encourage discussion.

C-17    Applications: When designing and implementing all activities.

4. Minimise Disturbance of Peatland Vegetation and the Compaction and Disturbance of Peat

C-18    Explanation: Presented along with Principle 5 and 6 as of equal importance, they are dependent on each other to maintain good function, prevent degradation, and promote natural successional processes. Excessive compaction and disturbance can also trigger and drive degradation processes of peatlands with good function. Positive indicator species play an important role in establishing the target habitat communities immediately after land use activities which effectively kick-start recovery.

C-19    Clarity: This should not discourage carefully planned and targeted activities that are designed to counteract and repair peatland areas with higher-than-normal rates of water conductance. This can result from drainage effects from modifications over the long term and result in the acrotelm being oxidised. Where this has been carefully assessed, targeted activities using methods to compact the peat can be used to restore the hydrological conditions.

C-20    Applications: All activities and decisions. Including; if a machine’s specifications are fit for purpose, agreeing protection measures, assessing outcomes of supervising management activities, to designing and carrying out restoration activities.

5. Maintain the Natural Hydrological Properties and Connectivity of the Peatland or Match it with a Comparable Natural System or Geomorphological Type.

C-21    Explanation: Natural hydrological conditions supported the growth of the peatland over many years. When altered, this compromises the ability of this peat mass to be maintained or to continue forming. It also compromises the recovery of peatland vegetation since it also relies on the same growing conditions.

C-22     For restoration activities, re-wetting techniques should be chosen and designed to restore the hydrological regimes and properties of the peatland that resemble those of the original peatland in that location. In other words, the landform and hydrology of that area that supports the formation and maintenance of peat.

C-23    The aim is to restore a hydrological regime that experiences all the dynamism and relative amounts or strengths of water supply, resistance/conductance, and discharge.

C-24    Clarity: This does not mean that any measure to increase the wetness of the peat is positive or desirable. This applies when protecting, managing and restoring peatlands.

C-25    Applications: Plans and implementation of all activities. This includes agreeing protection measures, designing and carrying out restoration activities, and assessing the outcomes of monitoring the results of activities. Examples are deciding upon actions to maintain hydrological connectivity around roads or infrastructure is to provide adequate numbers of culverts or introduce materials into the foundations that allow water flow underneath.  Examples would be where to establish trees, to ensure this has a beneficial effect and not a negative impact.

C-26    Additional notes: Match the hydrological properties and connectivity of the peatland or geomorphological type of the natural system: In the uplands increasing the water supply or decreasing the water conductance could have undesirable effects. For example, if a restored flushed peatland on a slope has a large volume of water passing through it, the methods employed could introduce a barrier to water movement, resulting in undesirable effects. It could increase the risk of a peat slide occurring, speed up and/or trigger surface erosion as water is not contained within the acrotelm and is forced onto the surface.

C-27    The above example is often found in upland blanket bogs with undulating and gently or steeply sloping terrain. Shallow depressions or gullies that are sloped and carry water from large areas of peatlands into water courses support valuable vegetation communities that depend on wet peat. The types and specifications of restoration methods used in these areas need to take account of this. 

C-28    Several activities can alter the hydrological connectivity, supply, conductance/resistance and discharge of water in the peat. This affects the ecosystem function of the peatland across a footprint that varies with geomorphological peat type and hydrology. Activities include installing infrastructure which introduce a stone barrier or compact peat. This can slow down water flow in an undesirable way resulting in an altered supply and discharge of water on a specific part of the peatland.

C-29    The impact of an activity upon the peatland, depends on what the hydrological conditions were when the peat was forming previously. For example, even a floating road usually reduces the flow of water below it, as it has compacted the acrotelm which is where most of the water is transported through the peat. Whilst in some instances this may be regarded as a positive impact for example wetting the peat helps drive peat formation. This often means that the peat on the other side of the road is now experiencing a reduced water supply. This may have lesser obvious effects on an ombrotrophic bog but could have significant impacts on a fen or upland flushed peat within a concave bowl. The hydrological conditions are dynamic, changing with respect to the precipitation events, i.e. constant variation between periodic droughts and deluges. Altered peatlands may not be able to cope with an altered supply, conductance and discharge of water, leading perhaps to unusual peat formation patterns, corresponding peat loss and triggering and then driving erosion and degradation over the longer term.

6. Reduce or Remove all Significant Threats to the Peatland Habitats.

C-30    Explanation: Threats or stressors on peatland function can be presented individually, but often there are multiple stressors that act cumulatively. All reduce functional traits and resilience to climate change to varying degrees. Tackling these threats often requires long term actions and a commitment of ongoing management. 

C-31    Clarity: An assessment should consider the impacts on natural processes that are maintaining or restoring the peatland. These include the hydrological conditions and the cover and condition of positive indicator species. Threats include drainage features, modifications, physical barriers to water movement such as tracks or roads, encroachment of non-native tree and plant species, salinity, severity and frequency of fires, over grazing and poaching from livestock or wild deer, trampling, nutrient deposition and nutrification (atmospheric and aquatic). This principle is designed to encourage a holistic approach.

C-32     Applications: All plans/ proposals that adopt a holistic approach.

7. Assess Outcomes using the most Appropriate Recognised Monitoring Method Considering the Objectives.

C-33    Explanation: This is a broad principle that should be achieved on several levels, through national monitoring strategies and locally on a site-by-site basis. The latter is important when deciding whether aftercare or management is required.

C-34    Clarity: Monitoring methods should be fit for purpose, proportionate, and effective.

C-35    Applications: All protection, management and restoration activities where resources are available.

Activity Pathway Specific Principles - Protection

This section explains and clarifies the activity pathway and application for the protection of peatlands. 

8. Protect the Integrity, Condition and Functional Properties of the Peatland and the Surrounding Associated Habitats.

C-36    Explanation: This includes Annex 1 and priority habitats and 'features of Protected Areas', and other habitats listed on the Scottish Biodiversity List. These are the habitats that are regarded to be of the highest value.

C-37    Clarity: These habitats are as important as peatland habitats.

C-38    Applications: Development proposals, restoration proposals for accessing and working peatland sites.

Activity Pathway Specific Principles – Management

This section explains and clarifies the activity pathway and application for the management of peatlands. 

9. Maintain or Improve Peatland Functions by Considering the Individual and Combined Impacts of Each Management Activity or Regime. 

C-39    Explanation:  The activities within the managed category include those which are improving the structure or species community in some way, or are delivering non peatland specific objectives, or both. This usually involves a trade-off between objectives. Examples are

• Deciding upon a grazing regime that improves the condition of the habitat or the peat forming function.
• Setting an optimal herbivore density to ensure trampling or poaching does not compromise the management objectives. 
• Devising a wildfire risk assessment and mitigation plan to achieve a fire resilient landscape.

C-40     Clarity: This is about balancing objectives and considering the impacts of proposed actions or reviewing and amending regimes already in place.

C-41    Applications: All management activities.

Activity Pathway Specific Principles – Restoration

This section explains and clarifies the activity pathway and application for the restoration of peatlands. 

10. Activities Should Remediate all Modifications and Degradation Features that Negatively Impact the Functionality of the Peatland.

C-42    Explanation: This principle should be considered along with the second restoration principle to provide a balanced approach to meeting the objectives. These principles speak directly to the indicators of success relating to ecological function. All the hydrological units that are found across the peatland unit should be restored adopting an integrated watershed management approach. This ensures that the whole of the peatland is more likely to reach the restoration tipping point. It is important to distinguish between micro-erosion features that may self-repair or recover after a reduction of grazing regime or the removal of another threat, and those features that are not going to recover in time. 

C-43    Clarity: This principle should not be used to over-rule the protection principles - all must be considered together and weighed up for a given circumstance.

C-44    Applications:  Within the design process.

11. Do Enough and No More to Meet the Objectives.

C-45    Explanation: This Principle should be considered along with the 13th principle to provide a balanced approach to meet the objectives. These objectives speak directly to the Ecosystem function. This principle is intended to avoid the use of over engineered solutions or techniques, as more disturbance risks unintended consequences such as alteration of the hydrology and can compromise ecological function. This is a high-level concept or aspiration, which is intended to rationalise and minimise workflows, wastage, and maximise efficiency when delivering the objectives.

C-46    This aligns with other principles, such as minimising compaction and disturbance of peat, since more work usually entails more of this happening.  It should also promote the adaptations of specifications to suit local circumstances.  For example, the creation of overly high bunds is counterproductive because they either subside over time releasing significant carbon dioxide or remain an artificial feature that can attract tree colonisation. They may also increase the risk of fires spreading in some circumstances.

C-47    Clarity: This principle should not be used to propose doing less activities than are deemed to be required. This does not mean that ‘less should be done than has proven successful in the past’, but it does mean ‘do not do more than has proven sufficient in the past, without justification’.

C-48    Applications: Decision making with regards to comparing two different restoration methods that may appear to be equal with no strong preference given the circumstance or local conditions.  This principle is also useful when improving machine operator workflows.

12. Minimise the Duration and Number of Times the Peat is Reformed or Handled.

C-49    Explanation: This principle speaks directly to the workflows used by machine operators and to designers who are proposing site specific techniques or specifications. This is applicable to workflows for re-profiling hags, creating surface bunds or any activity that involves disturbing peat.  This aligns with the 2nd principle - the need to minimise compaction and disturbance, however this principle builds upon this by providing a clear steer for complex workflows with many stages.  For example, it is common to see a mitigation included in many soil or habitat restoration plans that if the result from the first attempted work is not satisfactory, then follow up work will be carried out to rectify this.  This is normally not applicable to peatland restoration activities and is often counter-productive to the objectives. The result from the first attempt should be optimal first time when re-profiling hags, re-profiling drains, and ground smoothing.  There is usually no opportunity to remedy an error or shortfall in the workflow/ specifications used, without further compacting or disturbing the peat.  This would be highly undesirable and may even have been the reason the first attempt was not successful.

C-50    Clarity: In the spirit of the ‘do enough and no more to meet the objectives’ principle, insofar as it is not intended to result in less work being done than is required to meet the objectives.

C-51    Applications: When deciding and improving on operator workflows when using peat, e.g. borrowing peat for installing peat dams, bunds, and when re-profiling hags. When designers are preparing specifications based on site conditions and needs.

13. Restore Peatland Habitat to Achieve the Optimal Recovery of Peatland Hydrology and Peat-forming Vegetation Communities. 

C-52    Explanation: ‘Optimal’ often means quickly but there may be exceptions.  Many of the peatland positive indicators act as very prolific pioneer species.  This means they can usually be relied upon to recolonise or regenerate quickly before negative indicators not associated with peatland habitats can establish and begin to suppress them.  However, speed is thought to be an important factor in the establishment of natural processes and traits that drive the restoration process towards meeting the objectives.  When the process is slow, for example, when revegetating an eroded gully, the risk of a once every five-year deluge event washing the partially recovered vegetation becomes greater as the time taken to reach a condition that is robust and resilient increases.  Another example is when restoring forest to bog habitats, since bare peat can provide a very favourable seed bed that non-native tree can establish and develop on, whereas this is rare on revegetated sites.  In this case, the risk of the restoration process travelling in a different trajectory increases as the time taken to revegetate with positive indicators lengthens. 

C-53    Clarity:  This principle should provide leadership in improving or developing new techniques and comparing them with established methods. These improvements are most likely to involve linking more strongly with natural processes, rather than using over engineered alternatives. Maximise the alignment and use of natural processes to achieve successful restoration. 

C-54    Applications: When comparing two different restoration methods, when sequencing and planning multiple phase activities within a project area, and as a reference for monitoring and assessing progress along a restoration trajectory. Other examples include the retention of peatland habitat remnants on forest to bog restoration sites, the use of donor turves for revegetating bare peat, and the spreading of sphagnum are examples of actions that increase the speed of recovery. This principle also suggests that for Forest to Bog sites, that restoration activities should be carried out as soon after felling as possible.  Not doing so risks the site heading along a different non-peatland restoration trajectory – leading to additional carbon emissions, degradation of peat, and additional legacy costs. This principle may be useful when considering the timing of activities as part of a development, in relation to the sequencing of work around a project area with multiple phases of work.

D-1     Different thresholds of peat depths are used for applying guidance and regulation. Each threshold is derived from evidence with respect to the purpose and impacts. Examples are given here:  

• The IUCN UK Peatland Programme defines peat as soil with at least 30 cm of organic material based on the capacity to support peat-forming processes. The Peatland Code adopts this threshold for restoration eligibility. 
• Peatland ACTION advises the majority of the peatland within a project must have a peat depth of over 50cm. Exceptions of 30cm depth may be considered for restoration if they form an intrinsic component of the peat hydrological unit. 
• Scottish Forestry uses ≥50 cm to define ‘deep peat’ for planning woodland creation projects and when making restocking decisions. The UK Forestry Standard advises against afforestation on peat ≥50 cm deep or where the hydrological integrity of adjacent bogs could be compromised.
• The Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 uses 40 cm or more as a threshold for requirements. 
• The Muirburn Code (2026) defines the peat depth threshold as 40cm or more in thickness.
• Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) use The National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) definition of carbon rich soils which includes the definition of peat soil in Scotland as when soil has an organic layer at the surface which is more than 50cm deep. Organo-mineral soil or peaty soil is soil which has an organic layer at the surface less than 50cm thick and overlies mineral layers (e.g. sand, silt and clay particles).
• Rural Payments and Services require two conditions to be met for land to be considered as peatlands: the soil must have a peat thickness of at least 50cm and it must be covered by semi-natural vegetation.
• See also Soils in Scotland: Guide to soil types and the Origins of the Soil Survey of Scotland 50 cm threshold to define a Peat soil.
• See also Peatland ACTION Peat depth and condition data survey guidance 

E-1     Peatland ACTION Programme delivery partners:

The Scottish Government, NatureScot, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park Authority, Scottish Water, and Forestry and Land Scotland.

E-2     Partners:

Argyll Countryside Trust, Carloway Estate Trust, Crichton Carbon Centre, Flow Country Partnership, Glasgow & Clyde Valley (GCV) Green Network Partnership (Clyde Peatlands), Shetland Amenity Trust, and Tweed Forum.

Peatland ACTION also work closely with others such as Butterfly Conservation – ‘Bogsquad’, Heather Trust, IUCN UK Peatlands Programme, Scottish Land and Estates.

F-1     Representatives from the following organisations formed the Technical Advice Working Group:

University of Highlands and Islands

James Hutton Institute

Aberdeenshire Council

The Cairngorms National Park Authority

Caledonian Climate Partners

Crichton Carbon Centre

Forestry and Land Scotland

Scottish Forestry

The Highland Council

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority

Shetland Amenity Trust

Argyll Countryside Trust (ACT)

Glasgow & Clyde Valley (GCV) Green Network Partnership

The Tweed Forum

ADL Nature

Zora Ecosystems

Bidwells

RSPB

Scottish Water

G-1     This Annex includes additional information relating to the history of Scotland’s peatlands, the peat formation processes, the mechanisms of erosion and modifications leading to degradation, and the process of restoration.

 History of Peatlands in Scotland

G-2     Understanding the history of Scotland’s peatlands provides a useful context for understanding why, and how, peatlands have been shaped into in their current condition. 

G-3     From early communities relying on peat for fuel through to the modern recognition of peatlands’ global environmental importance, it is helpful to reflect on the dynamic interaction between people and nature. Integrating this understanding highlights the cultural significance of peatlands and fosters a broader appreciation of their ecological, social, and economic value. 

G-4     Scottish peatlands began forming over 10,000 years ago following the last glaciation. During this epoch, there have been long-term climatic fluctuations.  In the early Holocene, peat began to form. As the climate warmed, waterlogged conditions enabled the slow accumulation of organic material. This process created extensive (albeit thinner) peat deposits across the uplands, setting the stage for later human use and a distinctive ecological setting. 

G-5     When early farming communities settled in the uplands in the late Neolithic period, the uplands were already blanketed in peat, developed over thousands of years of post-glacial recovery. Prehistoric populations at that time would likely have cut peat for a range of purposes, such as a fuel resource, as suggested by palaeoecological evidence.

G-6     Later, during the Medieval Warm Period (circa 950-1250 AD), it has been inferred from reconstructed records that climatic conditions drove the expansion of scrub and woodland, which modified hydrological regimes and temporarily reduced peat accumulation. 

G-7     Subsequent cooling trends and extensive slash-and-burn practices used to clear vegetation further transform these environments.

G-8     The earliest documented references to burning peatlands for grazing (‘muirburn’) date to the early 1400s. Then, between the 1780s and the mid-1810s, extensive drainage and burning expanded with the shift to a sheep-based economy in the UK that contributed to the Highland Clearances. The widespread practice of cutting open hill drains on blanket bog to improve grazing resulted in a large proportion of modified bog in Scotland.

G-9     Alongside drainage, peat cutting by hand (for domestic fuel) would have been commonplace, particularly in coastal areas where people had been relocated following the Highland Clearances.

G-10 Peat extraction and removal would have been widespread, often targeting the margins of peatlands, either to support distilleries (for heating and malting) or to convert peatlands to agriculture. 

G-11     From the 1940s to the 1980s, approximately 20% of Scottish peatlands, including 67,000 ha in the Flow Country of Caithness and Sutherland, were impacted by large-scale planting of non-native conifers, mainly Sitka spruce and Lodgepole pine. This was the unintended consequence of a post-war timber shortage, the need to create jobs and support the local economy, a new forestry strategy, and a generous tax incentive system.

G-12     Before the EU Habitats Directive, significant conservation efforts were underway in Scotland to protect blanket bogs. In 1988, the government designated over 140,000 hectares of open habitat, primarily blanket bog, as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). In addition, in the 1990s, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) pioneered large-scale restoration intervention in Forsinard Flows National Nature Reserve with EU-LIFE funding, including the first “forest-to-bog” restoration project. This was driven by concerns over the negative impacts of afforestation on biodiversity in the Flow Country, especially breeding waders on surrounding designated blanket bog sites and was followed by other large-scale interventions across a range of sites. Later, in the late 1990s, the EU Habitats Directives provided further mechanisms to protect and designate important peatland areas in Scotland. 

G-13     Scottish Planning Policy 2010 Introduced for the protection of peatland within built development. The role of peatland restoration in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions was highlighted more prominently with the publication of the IUCN UK Commission of Inquiry on peatlands. 

G-14     In 2012, Scotland launched its Peatland ACTION Programme, initially known as the Green Stimulus fund, which later transitioned to its current form and nomenclature to fund large-scale restoration interventions to combat climate change. In 2011, following policy changes, the guidance stated that afforestation of peat soils deeper than 50 cm was to be avoided. Guidance was published stating that restocking of afforested peatlands should be determined by appropriate carbon balance, potential tree growth (yield class), and wider environmental factors. 

G-15     Then, in 2015, Scotland launched its National Peatland Plan aiming to ‘protect, manage and restore peatlands’ to maintain their natural functions, biodiversity and benefits. At the same time, the IUCN Peatland Code was introduced as the first mechanism to attract private investment for GHG emissions reduction through restoration. By then, EU LIFE-funded projects had enabled restoration and management intervention of over > 30,000 ha of Scottish, peatlands but this was about to ramp up. 

G-16     The Scottish Government declared a climate emergency on April 28, 2019, and was thereby the first country to make such a declaration. In 2020, £250 million was pledged by the Scottish Government to support restoration and management efforts to put 250,000 ha of peatlands on the road to recovery by 2030. The Peatland Action Annual Review 2023-24 states ‘Approximately 75,000 hectares of previously damaged peatland habitat have benefited directly from restoration activities.’

G-17     In 2023, areas of “Forest to Bog” primarily from the second EU LIFE project, were formally integrated into the Peatlands of Caithness and Sutherland SAC. While much of the initial EU LIFE project focused on drain blocking in already designated SSSI and SAC areas, the assessment and subsequent designation of these additional restored areas marked a significant milestone in peatland conservation. Finally, a key achievement in Scottish peatland conservation came in July 2024, when the Flow Country became the first and only peatland to be recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.   

An Introduction to the Peatland Formation Process

G-18     The peat formation process includes peat establishment, growth, and degradation.

G-19     Peatlands are wetland ecosystems that cover around 3% of the Earth land surface. They are found in areas of high-altitude regions due to cool and wet climatic conditions, or tropical regions. Plants have become adapted to the challenging conditions of waterlogged and acidic soils.  Impeded drainage drove peat formation processes by preventing dead plant material from fully decomposing.  Over the millennia, this resulted in a near constant accumulation of organic matter within large peat deposits.  Peatlands across the world store more than twice the carbon stocks than those of all other vegetation types combined. 

G-20     Scotland has a relatively high cover of peatlands (around 20% of its land). This is a legacy of the geological and geomorphological processes that happened during the Quaternary geological period which saw repeated reworking of Scotland superficial landforms through the movement of glacial icesheets and change in sea levels. This led to the removal of previous vegetation and soils creating a perfect ground for the development of new peatlands.  Since the end of the last Ice age, peat deposits have been accumulated at a relatively slow rate (an average of 1mm/years) reaching depth of over 10 metres at their peak. 

G-21     In Scotland, the presence of extensive glacial landforms gave rise to the accumulation of material in shallow depressions, which led to the formation of Basin or Raised bogs. Elsewhere, low temperatures and high rainfall enabled accumulation of peat directly on the bare poorly drained quaternary landform (planification) to create a large extent of Blanket bogs.

G-22     Peatlands are highly diverse systems with complex organisation in their vegetation, topography, peat deposits and the geological landscape that support the whole peatland mass. This complexity is echoed in variation in the storage capacity, flow patterns of both the surface water body and the superficial groundwater in the peat deposits. 

Vegetation and Peat: A Self-sustaining System

G-23     All plant species and habitat communities have optimal growing conditions with varying tolerances. Peatlands are natural systems where the living plant communities have built up its own growing media (peat soils) over time.  In turn, the soil properties are providing the necessary conditions for the peatland habitats to survive and thrive. In an ecologically functioning peatland, this results in the formation of a vertical stratification of peat soils with a very dynamic shallow surface layer (acrotelm).  Some partial decomposition occurs in these upper layers.  The water table fluctuates within this layer and has a relatively high hydraulic conductivity, allowing water movement laterally. The catotelm (peat layer) is found below the acrotelm and generally remains permanently waterlogged and anaerobic. Decomposition of plant material, particularly sphagnum species is minimal, leading to the slow accumulation of amorphous peat. 

The Peatland Vegetation Community and the Protective Layer of the Acrotelm 

G-24     The acrotelm includes the freshly decomposed material and roots of the plants. This layer protects the peat from direct exposure to the atmosphere and weather. The vegetation - depending on its ‘roughness’ also slows surface water runoff, reducing erosion, and regulates water levels by limiting evaporation. This stabilisation reduces the range of the wet and dry fluctuations experienced at the peat surface by the vegetation.  More information is available here: IUCN Briefing note - Peat Bog Ecosystems: Structure, Form State and Condition

G-25     The rate of peat accumulation varies, with the decomposition rate has the strongest effect on peat formation.  Long-term averages over the Holocene suggest a typical accumulation rate of less than 1 mm per year in northern peatlands, with estimates from northern Scotland indicating rates closer to 0.6 mm per year. It is important to note that peat does not accumulate uniformly over time, because of the varying climatic and topographic conditions.

G-26     There is a dynamic balance or equilibrium between peat accumulation and decomposition. Humification is a process whereby organic material becomes increasingly decomposed and compacted, reducing volume and moisture content.  While some mass loss occurs due to humification, this is counterbalanced by the slow but continuous accumulation of new peat.  This may only occur when the peatland is in good condition with an absence of modifications or degraded features.

Peatland Plant Species and their Habitat Niches

G-27     Plant species that thrive in peatland are adapted to very acidic and nutrient poor growing conditions. Varying nutrient availability governs the presence or absence of specific peatland plant species across the various habitat types. In addition, each species has specific growing preferences and varying tolerances for wet or dry(er) conditions. The species cover varies year to year, fluctuating in extent and vigour depending on seasonal variability. These factors are significant in governing the hydrological conditions of the peat.

Conditions Allow only a Limited Decomposition of Litter

G-28     The conditions of peat soils limit the soil microbial communities’ activity thereby reducing the decomposition of dead plant material.  This allows accumulation to form peat deposits over time, resulting a more stable and organic carbon store.  Oxidation (decay) of the dead plant material and peat naturally occurs during dry periods.

G-29     Seasonal fluctuations of temperature also influence the rate of decomposition.  A proportion of the remaining material will be incorporated into the peat as hydrological and climatic conditions allow.

G-30     The hydrological regimes control the formation of the peatland system as it influences oxygen and gas diffusion rates, redox status, (oxygen availability), nutrient availability and cycling, and species composition and diversity. 

G-31     The hydrological regimes experienced in the surface layer of the peatland (acrotelm) produces a favourable balance between the water supply, the hydraulic conductivity (resistance / conductance) through, and discharge from the peat of a given bulk density/ porosity. 

How Peatlands become Degraded

G-32     A full explanation of how peatlands become degraded cannot be presented yet with confidence. This annex will be updated as conclusions will be drawn from scientific studies in the future.  In general, it is thought that the erosion features and degradation resulting from natural and artificial means can be explained by considering the hydrological and mechanical properties of peat, the impacts of artificial stressors and climatic conditions. 

Peatland Microbial Communities and Decomposition Processes

G-33     Unlike other soil types, peatlands generally have low microbial activity due to their waterlogged, oxygen-poor conditions. This slows decomposition, allowing organic material to accumulate and form peat over time. The microorganisms present in peatlands, including bacteria, archaea, protists, and some fungi, have adapted to these unique conditions and fulfil specialised roles in carbon and nutrient cycling. Their composition varies by depth and habitat, with some species associated with water-saturated environments and others interacting closely with specific vegetation types. 

G-34     Microorganisms in peatlands exist in water-saturated environments, but certain species are specifically associated with standing water, while others form part of the plant microbiome (which include mesofauna, fungi, bacteria, archaea, protists, algae). Their composition is highly diverse and roles and vary with peat depth (Andersen et al., 2013; and with different microcosm characteristics; Kitson and Bell, 2020). They also vary within specific habitats within the peatland, with some preferring the water environment, and others preferring specific vegetation types. Examples include micro-algae, associated with mosses and peat porewaters, which can contribute contributing 10-30% of peatland fixation of atmospheric Carbon by photosynthesis (Hamard et al., 2021a; 2021b).

G-35     Microorganisms play a vital role in peatland ecosystem processes. However, diversity and drivers of their composition and function in peatlands are poorly understood. What is clear is that the rate and direction of many of these processes depend on the interplay of physical, chemical and biological factors (hydrology, microorganism composition, oxygen availability, pH, temperature, nutrient availability, vegetation and peat carbon chemistry) (Andersen et al., 2013; Kitson and Bell, 2020; Robinson et al., 2023; Robroek et al., 2015; Rydin and Jeglum, 2013). 

G-36     Microorganisms found in peatland also have roles in other processes, such as nutrient cycling, which impacts plant growth. For example, mediated by Cyanobacteria or methanotrophs facilitate the process of nitrogen fixing whereby nitrogen is removed from the atmosphere into the soil where plants can use and access it and use it to support their growth, peatland plants can obtain a proportion of nitrogen needed for growth from biological fixation (Yin et al., 2022, Kitson and Bell, 2020). For example, evidence suggests that methanogenic archaea produce methane through anaerobic respiration in the catotelm/anoxic zone, which can be converted by methanotrophic bacteria into carbon dioxide in the acrotelm/oxic zone (Robinson et al., 2023). 

G-37     Some microorganisms are present throughout peat waters due to the high-water content of peat (typically around 90%). However, specific microbial communities are also associated with distinct habitats within peatlands, such as standing waters and plant microbiomes. 

Hydrological Function of Peatlands

G-38     Peatlands primarily receive water through precipitation, with additional inputs from groundwater and surface water depending on the geomorphological type. Local factors such as topography, geography, and landform influence these inputs.

Definition of Hydrological Unit

G-39     A hydrological unit functions as a distinct hydrological entity. These units, also called mesotopes, represent separate peatland components with their water dynamics, such as a named bog or fen. Hydrological units are typically interconnected within a larger peatland complex (macrotope), forming a network of water flow across the landscape. In a blanket bog, for example, multiple mesotopes that were once separate may now be linked by water movement between domes and fen areas. A hydrological unit is influenced by topography, geology, and vegetation factors. Identifying these units’ aids in tailoring restoration activities to specific hydrological conditions.

Hydraulic Conductivity – Water Movement Through Peat

G-40     Hydraulic conductivity refers to how easily water can move through the peat. In peatlands, water movement varies depending on the depth and porosity. The upper layer of peat, known as the acrotelm, is more porous and less dense, allowing water to flow through it more easily. 

G-41     A high rate of water flow through the acrotelm on slopes experiencing high amount of water supply is desirable in many circumstances.  This is because a reduced throughflow would force an increase in the Saturation Excess Overland Flow, triggering erosion.  In contrast, the deeper layer, called the catotelm, becomes denser and more compact as the peat breaks down over time. This reduced porosity in the catotelm slows down the movement of water, helping maintain a high-water table crucial for peat formation. 

Water Discharge and Hydrological Balance

G-42     In unmodified peatlands, water is typically discharged downslope into water bodies or watercourses through overland flow or near-surface percolation within the acrotelm. The amount of water discharged generally equals the amount supplied minus losses from evaporation, evapotranspiration, or drainage. Low hydraulic conductivity at depth limits vertical drainage, preserving the high-water table essential for peat accumulation.

Implications for Restoration

G-43     Recognising and understanding these hydrological properties within specific hydrological units is vital for designing effective peatland restoration activities. Tailoring activities to the unique characteristics of each hydrological unit enhances the outcomes and promotes the long-term sustainability of peatland ecosystems.

Climate-Driven Degradation Processes

G-44     It is important to consider the changing climate with respect to the formation, protection, management and restoration processes.  Climate will change across Scotland by increasing the frequency and severity of extreme events for temperature and precipitation.  Factors influencing the processes need to be considered holistically and in combination.  For example, the combination of wetter and drier extremes drives erosion processes to a greater extent.

G-45     Change in precipitation levels and extremes – frequency and intensity of deluges and droughts may affect habitats and promote the development of bare peat pans, increase the likelihood of peat slides and bursts, increase surface water erosion rates and extents, and increase erosion rates in gullies.

G-46     Change in temperatures impacts on plant growth and increases the frequency of freeze thaw cycles. Fewer days of snow cover could affect the rates of erosion of surface peat.  Global temperatures are predicted to increase by two degrees centigrade by the 2050s (and in the UK). This temperature is roughly equivalent to the Holocene thermal max, characterised by more woodland and scrub than heath and peat forming systems.

G-47     The above factors also promote the spread and health of pathogens and invasive species including microbial species, and an increase in the risk of wildfires.

G-48     Changes to peatland plant community composition and phenology are also predicted under future climate change conditions and could reduce the ability of peatlands to sequester carbon (Antala et al., 2022). For example, Sphagnum species are critical for peat accumulation and stability but they are becoming less abundant on peatlands (Antala et al., 2022).

G-49     These climate pressures will create feedback loops that accelerate peatland degradation and complicate restoration efforts. Thus, interventions on peatlands should consider how the effects of climate change will affect the formation (including degradation) and restoration processes. 

Artificial processes / stressors

G-50     The artificial stressors drive the natural processes of degradation to a greater extent. 

G-51     Each stressor has a varying degree of influence, and some act in combination. In theory, the impact would depend on whether the peatland’s natural resilience or robustness is exceeded by the stressor.  The degradation processes vary across the seasons and between years.  For this reason, it is useful to consider the effects and impacts of stressors using scenarios that reflect extreme conditions.

G-52     The rate of peat accumulation can be altered over time by artificially introduced features, stressors, or disturbance events.  Each can have a negative or positive impact at a local level on the rate of accumulation or subsidence.  These include drainage features (peat excavation, transport infrastructure), soil compaction, vegetation disturbance (fires, grazing), and correspondingly in other areas when the levels of water bodies are raised. These can also act as triggers for degradation as detailed in the next section.

G-53     Drainage impacts leading to subsidence of peat and a reduction in porosity. This affects the growing conditions of the vegetation species, favouring more heathy species and the suppression of peatland specific species.  The development of bare peat areas can occur where growing conditions become unfavourable beyond the tolerance limits of the main species.  Higher parts of the topography can experience a contraction of peat, with wetter hollows continuing to support peat forming vegetation. The suppression of the water table in some areas of the peatland affects the vegetation communities, leaving them more vulnerable to fire damage, and colonisation by invasive tree species.  Another impact of drainage can be that it creates confluences of water flows leading to oversaturated peat in specific areas.  This could have two effects – triggering surface water erosion and possibly leading to peat instability and perhaps slides and bursts.

G-54     Linear drainage and/ or barrier features often change the hydraulic conductance/ resistance of lateral water movement through the acrotelm.  The surrounds can experience an increase or reduction of water supply and/ or water discharge.  This can be visualised as supplying more water to some areas whilst starving others.  This has corresponding effect on peat formation or subsidence rates.  Whether an increased rate of peat formation is viewed as a desirable outcome will depend on what the long-term impact is, i.e. whether the peat unit will sustain peat growth in a relatively stable condition, or whether this will trigger erosion and degradation processes.

G-55     Peat compaction leading to a change in bulk density of the acrotelm, promoting changes in the hydrological conditions which in turn alter the growing conditions and resilience of vegetation to extreme climatic events.

G-56     Overgrazing can contribute to the compaction of peat, cause additional nutrient input from urine and dung which can alter the structure and cover of vegetation. This can change the roughness provided by the vegetation with respect to slowing down surface water movement, therefore promoting surface water erosion leading to areas of bare peat establishing.

G-57     Bare peat – absence of peatland vegetation.  Without the protective layer of vegetation, the peat is exposed to the full effects of sunlight, wind, frost, precipitation and surface water flows. Bare peat increases evaporation and draw down of the water table in the locality.  This often leads to additional oxidation which may leave the peat in a hydrophobic condition that does not support the re-establishment of peatland species.  This can also lead to the formation of cracks that could lead to subsurface water flows and erosion.

G-58     Fire damage alters the structure and species composition of the vegetation with possible knock-on impacts on the hydrology and soil properties that support peatland species.  Further impacts result when the relative abundance of species causing higher rates of evapo-transpiration increases within the community. 

G-59     Nitrogen deposition can suppress species of vegetation that are intolerant of atmospheric pollution levels caused by emissions, for example from intensive poultry and pig farms nearby.

G-60     Climate Change will present greater extremes of wet and dry periods, and milder winters.  See the section above for more details.

Visible Signs of Erosion and Degradation Features

G-61     It is important to identify the triggers and mechanisms that drive erosion and degradation processes so that it is understood how they can be cared for.  These need to be read in conjunction with the peat formation information above. Within each peatland system this creates a complex network of natural subsystems that have developed to fit their local conditions and so may operate differently to their adjacent areas across landscape gradient.

G-62     When peatland subsystems grow and extend outside their natural boundaries, they can become instable and can trigger naturally occurring local erosion or landslide events.

G-63     Recognising the structural and ecological elements of intact natural systems is important for making decisions to care for them.

Micro - erosion

G-64     Micro-erosion is often a precursor to more significant erosion. However, the early signs of this may also occur as part of natural seasonal variability and frequency of severe deluge events.  The appearance and natural re-vegetation may be thought of as an ‘ebb and flow’ of vegetation decline and regrowth (during years when extreme events are less severe).

G-65     It occurs when cyclical wetting, drying, and direct pressures (compaction/disturbance from for example trampling and grazing) stress the peat surface. This results in small, frequent losses of acrotelm and vegetation, typically as bare peat patches that may interlink to form micro-gullies. Other signs include abundant lichens and non-Sphagnum mosses and algae-covered, drying, and cracked peat surfaces. Micro-erosion is commonly found at the margins of more extensive erosion features, within dendritic channel networks, and in the headwaters of erosion complexes.

G-66     Micro-erosion reduces peat absorbency, increasing surface erosion via wind, overland flow, splash erosion, and needle ice formation. Additionally, near-surface compaction limits the peat’s hydraulic capacity, reducing its ability to retain and transport water. These conditions create an unfavourable environment for many peatland vegetation species, establishing a positive but undesirable feedback loop that accelerates further erosion and eventual peat volume loss.

Meso - erosion

G-67     Meso-erosion features include peat cracking, fracturing, discontinuities, and peat pipes. These reduce peat’s natural resistance to water flow, increasing permeability and altering its water storage capacity. As bulk permeability increases, peat loses its ability to regulate hydraulic connectivity and transport effectively.

G-68     Meso-erosion can be driven by natural peat formation processes (e.g., peat pipes), long-term climatic factors (e.g., extended droughts, warming), or mass movements (e.g., peat slides). These features are exacerbated when the acrotelm is lost or slumping and cracking occur at the edges of disturbed peat areas. Without intervention, meso-erosion can worsen over time, resulting in macro-loss of peat, such as peat pipe collapse, particularly when combined with extreme waterlogging.

G-69     Peat pipes are challenging to address in restoration and doing so can be undesirable because this can introduce a further barrier to hydraulic conductivity. Peat-Pipe-Research provides further details.

Macro-loss of peat

G-70     Macro-loss occurs when long-term erosion processes result in significant peat mass loss. One driver is excessive surface or subsurface water flow, exceeding the peat’s ability to resist damage. Combined with extreme drying events during droughts, this can lead to severe landscape-scale erosion.

G-71     Peat pipes can collapse, forming gullies though these can also be caused by surface water erosion. Surface water erosion can gradually develop into gully systems, with small-scale erosion features enlarging over time. Both processes are essential but vary between sites.

G-72     This category includes hagged systems, often containing unvegetated peat pans where gullies connect. Large-scale peat loss in these systems is common, a result of the latter stages of peat formation when the peatland has outgrown its natural confines.

Peatland Restoration – Trajectories and Tipping points

G-73     There are a range of possible ‘natural’ peatland types found in Scotland that can be used as a target reference or “envelope” for the restoration activity.  These include fens, mires, and blanket bogs, etc.

G-74     After the restoration activity has been carried out, the restoration process should travel along a restoration trajectory towards the target state.  In theory, ecosystem services will recover and will reach a “recovery” tipping point.  This may be defined as a point where a particular ecosystem service is recovering and becomes beneficial.  One example would be when a peatland landscape reverts from being a carbon source to being a carbon sink. 

G-75     When restoring a peatland, the objective is to move towards this ‘near natural’ envelope, but each site may end up in a different part of trajectory based depending on the context. Another way of thinking about this “restoration tipping point” is the moment where a restored site falls within the natural range of similar sites; this may or may not be when all the attributes have recovered fully, but when self-sustaining feedback mechanisms between ecology, hydrology and physical properties of the peat have recommenced, and some ecosystem services are functional. 

G-76     Accordingly, restoration trajectories towards this “restoration tipping point” will vary depending on degradation status and legacies, as well as climate, landscape, connectivity and intervention type. When determining whether a restoration trajectory intervention is successful, consider both the starting point and desired end target point. 

G-77     A successful restoration outcome for a highly degraded site may initially be a reduction in bare peat and a stabilisation of the remaining carbon stock. With appropriate ongoing management or natural successional processes such as recurrence, this would halt further degradation, and facilitate the recovery of plant communities and processes, reconnecting these habitats with the wider landscape.

G-78     Early indicators of failure would include lack of re-vegetation, stable or increasing area of bare peat and continued export of aquatic carbon. 

G-79     Unfortunately, there is no single “desired” trajectory for a given site (considering the peat types, it’s hydrology and climate variations across the country, etc. This means that all sites may have a different end point, as explained above. 

G-80     Conversely, when a peatland is degrading, a tipping point is ultimately reached when the net carbon balance switches from a sink to a source, compromising the long-term stocks and storage of carbon. This is linked to the loss of keystone species and to disruption in the complex feedback mechanisms that govern peatland functions (Waddington et al., 2015). 

G-81     The restoration process does not follow a linear trajectory.  The restoration tipping point is at a point above the divergence between the desired states and the alternative and subsequent decline state.

The Open consultation will support the preparation and publication of Scotland’s Peatland Standard (SPS) by NatureScot and partners.  SPS will provide technical guidance to promote the protection, management and restoration of peatlands across Scotland.

The open consultation consists of two main parts.  Firstly, to provide three engagement sessions to encourage participation, and secondly, to obtain responses to the consultation using Microsoft Forms.

What kind of personal data we collect and why

We collect the following personal data.

Email address

• To send an appointment invite to you to one of the three engagement sessions
• To contact you to discuss or clarify your responses with respondents
• To notify you when the summary report is available on webpage.

Role (Landowner, Land manager or Agent, Contractor, Environmental advisor or consultant, Funder or investor, Regulator – agency or Local authority, researcher or academic, community organisation, individual stakeholder, other – text box) 

To categorise and analyse responses so that common themes can be identified and actions planned accordingly.

Area of business (farming or crofting, forest of woodland management, sporting management, or development, conservation, other)  

To categorise and analyse responses so that common themes can be identified and actions planned accordingly.

Country you live or work in (Scotland, England Wales or Northern Ireland, Ireland, Rest of World)

We welcome responses from other places but need to identify if responses are specific to other country’s legislative or policy frameworks that are not applicable in Scotland.  Technical issues may vary according to the peat types found in each country.

How we obtain your personal data 

Personal data is gathered directly from you during one or more of the methods below:   

• There will be three engagement sessions provided.  The organisation and booking system will use Microsoft forms to gather emails from attendees who have registered for these events. 
• During the sessions, NatureScot staff may may record responses by named individuals if they are identified.
• We will record information submitted in Microsoft forms – there are 19 questions with numerous free text boxes.

How we use your personal data                          

NatureScot uses the data submitted by you to: 

• Send appointment invites for the sessions to attendees,
• Ensure your survey responses have been included in the analysis,
• Contact you with further information as requested. 

When and why, we share your personal 

We will not share your personal information. The survey results will be shared with the appointed contractor for collating and analysing responses and preparing a summary report for publishing online that will be publicly available.  All responses will be anonymised, and no personal information will be shared with the contractor.

Our legal basis for using your personal data

We process your personal data so we can carry out our duties, and as a result we are processing your data for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, or exercising official authority vested in us.

In some situations, we may rely on legitimate interests as our legal basis for processing. 

Your Personal Data Rights

Information about your data protection rights — including access, rectification, restriction, objection, and how to exercise them.

You have the right to:

• Ask for copies of information about you and be told why we’re using it;
• Have incorrect information about you corrected.
• Object to your information being used by NatureScot because of your specific situation. 
• Restrict our use of information about you where:
  • we are using incorrect information. 
  • our use of your information is unlawful, and you want us to restrict its use rather than delete it.
  • NatureScot doesn’t need your information anymore, but you need it for legal action. 
  • you have the right to object to information, and you are using that right.

The UK Information Commissioner also has more information about your rights on their website.

How long we keep your data 

NatureScot will retain the Peatland Standard Consultation questionnaire data for four years until August 2030, so that responses from this consultation can be accessed during the first review of Scotland’s Peatland Standard.  The third-party contractor has no access to your personal information. 

All Teams recordings are subject to a 60-day retention policy.

Teams Meetings Chat are subject to a 15-day retention policy.

Refer to our website to read NatureScot’s main Privacy Notices

How we are keeping your data secure

NatureScot aims to protect your personal information through a system of organisational and technical security measures. NatureScot will ensure that:

• All data provided is transferred in a secure manner, encrypted in transit and at rest.
• All personal individual contact data is only used for the purposes specified. 
• Data is stored securely within the platform which has been penetration tested and meets the criteria specified within the National Cyber Security Centre 14 Cloud Security Principles assessment.
• The database that houses the results of assessments, user data and user authentication is currently hosted in the UK.

Subject Access Requests

If you would like to know more about the personal information we hold about you, please write/email the Data Protection Officer, NatureScot, Battleby, Redgorton, Perth, PH1 3EW [email protected] giving us your name and contact details and a description of the data you want to see. We will respond as soon as we can and by 30 days after your request at the latest. We might ask you to provide some form of identification, so we don't give data about you to the wrong person by mistake.

How you can contact us

Please contact NatureScot’s Data Protection Officer (DPO) if you want to discuss any data related issues. The DPO can be contacted in the following ways: 

By email: [email protected]  

By post: Battleby, Redgorton, Perth, PH1 3EW, 

By phone: 01738 444177