Peatlands are home to specialist wildlife communities and store vast amounts of carbon. Their restoration is both a climate and wildlife welfare priority.
Peatland wildlife - golden plovers, dunlin, short-eared owls, adders, and water voles among others - depends on the specific microhabitats created by waterlogged sphagnum moss. When peat is drained, these microhabitats disappear and the animals that depend on them face displacement, starvation, and reproductive failure. Peatland restoration, by raising the water table and allowing sphagnum to re-establish, creates conditions for wildlife welfare recovery within surprisingly short timescales. The welfare benefits extend to climate: restored peatlands absorb carbon rather than releasing it, reducing long-term climate-driven welfare harms across all ecosystems.