Peatland restoration rewets drained peat soils, restoring habitat for specialist wetland wildlife and the ecosystem services that support animal welfare across surrounding landscapes.
Peatland restoration provides direct and indirect welfare benefits across animal communities. Specialist peatland species — curlews, dragonflies, sundew-dependent insects — require intact bog habitat that cannot be substituted by other ecosystem types. Restoration directly benefits these species by recreating functional habitat. Peatland rewetting also reduces wildfire risk in adjacent dry peatlands and forests, preventing the catastrophic welfare events that large fires cause across animal communities. The carbon storage benefits of peatland restoration align conservation and climate goals with animal welfare improvement in rare cross-sectoral convergence.