Peatland drainage for agriculture destroys one of the most carbon-rich and biodiversity-rich ecosystems on earth, with profound welfare consequences for specialist wildlife communities.
Peatland drainage for agriculture eliminates entire wildlife communities that cannot simply move elsewhere — they are specialists adapted to wet, acidic, nutrient-poor conditions found nowhere else. Curlews whose nesting habitat drains away cannot nest successfully. Bog species of moss, beetle, and butterfly simply go locally extinct. The welfare consequence is not individual suffering but population-level welfare failure as animals lose the conditions their biology requires. Peatland restoration that re-wets drained areas restores both carbon function and the welfare-supporting habitat that specialist species need.