Those who work with us to protect forests are sent the coordinates of the protected land in a very transparent manner - and more than once we have received irritated inquiries when there was no dense forest to be found. This is particularly the case from time to time in our protected areas on the west coast of Canada, on Porcher Island. However, the areas in question are not - as some feared - already deforested (if that were the case, we would of course not buy them), but something very special: a raised bog!
The upland moors on Porcher Island are beautiful, magical places.
Just like floodplains, swamp forests and marshes, moors are wetlands and are located in the transition zone between dry and permanently wet ecosystems. They are inextricably linked to water. This either comes directly from precipitation or is groundwater from the soil. However, for a bog to survive in the long term, there must be a balance between water supply and water drainage. The constant water supply ensures that moors do not dry out even in dry periods.
The constantly high water level in the soil ensures that it hardly gets any oxygen. As a result, dying parts of plants in the moor are not completely decomposed, but form the characteristic meter-thick layer of peat over thousands of years. This is a very slow process that began after the last ice age, particularly in areas where it was damp and cool. The bogs in western Canada can therefore be up to 10,000 years old and only grow about one millimeter per year.1
Bogs can therefore be up to 10,000 years old and grow only about one millimeter per year.
GHOSTBUSTER
Forest bogs and CO2 storage on Porcher Island
Although today only about 1-3% of the earth's surface is covered by peatlands, over 30% of the total soil carbon stocks are stored there.2This is because the carbon from the dead plants cannot escape completely into the atmosphere because the water lacks the oxygen that the carbon needs to escape. Instead, it is stored in the peat. Intact peatlands, such as those in our protected areas, are therefore gigantic carbon sinks. With 6 m thick peat soil, a raised bog could store around 550-1,100 kg CO2/m2 3 - in a forest it would "only" be around 60 kg CO2/m2.
In order to maintain the growth of peat moss, the water level in raised bogs must always be high enough. When a bog is drained, the groundwater level drops and the peat dries out. This leads to the decomposition of the peat and releases the huge amounts of CO2 that were previously stored. The loss of peatlands through drainage therefore has a catastrophic impact on our climate!
On our last expedition, Content Creator Rick Azas ventured a deep dive into the moor.
Since the 17th century, more and more moors have been systematically drained. As is so often the case, the reason for this is forestry and agriculture, the construction of settlements and the extraction of peat - because peat burns almost as well as brown coal. Peat is also ideal as potting soil, as it stores water well and is largely free of weed seeds and pathogens due to the small amount of nutrients it contains.
Especially in industrialized countries such as Germany, only a few natural peatlands remain. Worldwide, the drained peatland area is estimated at over 50 million hectares - that's almost the entire land area of Spain! And the trend is rising. This is why peatlands and their surrounding forests must be protected at all costs! Not only because of their great importance for our climate, but also because of the enormous biodiversity and all the species that have adapted to this habitat and cannot be found anywhere else. Due to their advanced age and the slow-growing peat layer, moors are also difficult to restore. We are therefore very pleased that we have so many peatlands in our Canadian protected areas!
The peatlands on Porcher Island are one of the places in the world where the most CO2 is stored in nature. In Germany we only have 2% of our peatlands left, but here on Porcher the peatlands store between 100 and 300 kg CO2/m2! But as soon as humans have any influence, the peatland is usually damaged somewhere and starts to leak - like a bathtub that has been unplugged."
Kai Andersch
Forest scientist and Chairman of the Board
More than 10% of Canada's land area is covered by peatlands and the country has a large share of the world's peat resources (about 13%).4 Porcher Island in particular, where our Canadian protected areas are located, is 26-50% peatland.2 The majority of these are raised bogs. They have no access to groundwater and rely solely on rainwater and the nutrients it contains. This is why they are also known as rain moors. They are extremely acidic and low in nutrients, and only a few plants are adapted to this extreme location: Mainly found are peat mosses (Sphagnum species), which without roots are able to absorb the few available nutrients through their leaves to grow. In the lower area, they die off due to the increasing lack of light.
The carnivorous sundew(Drosera) is perfectly adapted to the conditions in bogs. It is also found in Germany - but is highly endangered here!
Peatlands are not only found in Canada, but all over the world - in the mountains, in the lowlands, in the middle of large forests (as in our protected areas in Canada) and on the coast. There are different types of bogs, which differ in their composition, vegetation and inhabitants depending on the climate zone.
Peatlands are often found in climatic zones where high levels of precipitation or cold temperatures occur - or both. This is the case around the equator, as well as in subarctic, boreal and oceanic-temperate zones, especially in the northern hemisphere. Our protected areas on the coast of western Canada also belong to the latter. The climatic conditions in these areas ensure that biomass is only broken down very slowly, which favors bog formation. Peatlands are less common in less humid, subtropical regions, but they can also be found there, for example in mountainous regions with high levels of precipitation or near large rivers. The area of all peatlands worldwide is estimated at 500 million hectares. However, this is only an approximate figure, as many large areas have not yet been mapped accurately and many smaller areas are still undiscovered.1
Inform yourself and others about the importance of peatlands and the threats they face - for example by sharing posts like this one on social media.
Promotion of peat-free products: Peat is often used in horticulture, which encourages the destruction of peatlands. Use and buy peat-free potting soil and, if possible, compost it yourself.
Personal behavior: Only visit bogs on designated paths so as not to damage the sensitive vegetation.
Support nature conservation organizations: Get involved with or support organizations that work to protect peatlands, for example through donations or volunteer work. Together with us, you can protect moors in Canada, for example.
In this episode of "Mission Canada", Robert and Kai visit the raised bog in our conservation area together with the WI team and provide further exciting insights into the flora and fauna.
1Mooratlas: Facts and figures on wet climate protectors. (2023). Heinrich Böll Foundation. https://www.boell.de/de/2022/11/17/mooratlas-2023.
Harris, L. I., Richardson, K., Bona, K. A., Davidson, S. J., Finkelstein, S. A., Garneau, M., McLaughlin, J., Nwaishi, F., Olefeldt, D., Packalen, M., Roulet, N. T., Southee, F. M., Strack, M., Webster, K. L., Wilkinson, S. L., & Ray, J. C. (2022). The essential carbon service provided by northern peatlands. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 20(4), 222-230. https://doi. org/10.1002/fee.2437
2WildlifeConservation Society Canada. (2019, August 23). Northern peatlands in Canada. Esri. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/19d24f59487b46f6a011dba140eddbe7
3Calculationbased on the average peat density of approx. 0.1 g/cm³ and carbon content of the peat, based on the typical carbon content in the peat soil (approx. 50% of the dry weight).
4Tarnocai, C., Kettles, I. M., & Lacelle, B. (2011). Peatlands of Canada. Natural Resources Canada/CMSS/Information Management. https://doi.org/10.4095/288786 .
