Wildfire and peatland: Studies to support delivery of the Third National Adaptation Programme

The Technical Report of the Third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3) identified a substantial increase in wildfire risk as a direct result of climate change which may have severe implications in peatland areas or for other organic soils which are major carbon stores (Risk N5 – risk to natural carbon stores). Wildfires on peat soils can lead to large amounts of carbon being released into the atmosphere, contributing further to climate change.

In Annex 1 to the Third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3), published in July 2023, we set out the actions we would be taking to achieve our risk reduction goal of creating and maintaining healthy, functioning peatland, which will increase the resilience of these carbon stores for future climate conditions and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This included a commitment to a wildfire risk R&D programme beginning from 2023 (as part of Action 6).

We are putting in place research to fulfil this commitment and as part of this we need to commission several reviews and scoping studies.

These are smaller pieces of work individually, which we are bringing together into one larger project. The project is made up of 6 sub-projects (A to F) which will be reported on independently (giving a total project output of 6 reports). Sub-projects A and C are the largest sub-projects. Due to the diverse nature of the work areas, we expect that different teams will be required for each sub-project (and should involve different organisations as appropriate). We welcome consortia bids which draw together a range of expertise from different research institutes and organisations across environmental, economic and social disciplines.

The overall project must be coordinated by a scientist with expertise in wildfire who will contribute to each sub-project and ensure delivery. However, expertise in peat science will also be required and it would be beneficial to ensure that at least one peat scientist had a mirror role in ensuring consistency across the sub-projects (see also later section on the project team).

The six sub-projects are:

A Effectiveness of peatland land management systems and practices in creating wildfire resilience to meet adaptation needs

B The impact of peat restoration on building wildfire resilience into the landscape (deeper dive)

C The cost of wildfire on peat in England and Wales (economic assessment)

D Scoping a peat wildfire risk map for England (scoping study)

E Scoping a portal for land managers to report fires on peat they have dealt with (scoping study)

F Recovery of peat habitats post-wildfire