Northern Peatlands in Canada

An Enormous Carbon Storehouse

Aerial view of Hudson Bay peatlands - a patchwork of small waterbodies and forests

A story map by:

Why are peatlands important?


Thick carpets of Sphagnum moss in the Hudson Bay peatlands
Thick carpets of Sphagnum moss in the Hudson Bay peatlands
Aerial view of the Hudson Bay peatlands
Aerial view of the Hudson Bay peatlands

Where are peatlands?


Map of global peatland extent
Map of peatland extent in Canada
Map of peatland extent and boreal region in Canada
Map of peatland extend and Hudson Bay Lowland ecozone in Canada

Indigenous Peoples


Peatlands are part of the traditional territories of many Indigenous Peoples across Canada who remain deeply connected to these places as a basis for their social, community, cultural and economic values.

Biodiversity


Peatlands also play important roles in biodiversity conservation, wildlife habitat, protection of species at risk, water storage and quality, and maintenance of air quality.

Map of Hudsonian Godwit abundance in the Americas

Polar bears (left), caribou (centre), and red knots (right) are all species of national concern that frequent peatlands across Canada.

Carbon Cycle


Map of peatland extent and permafrost in Canada
Circumpolar map of soil organic carbon in peatlands in North America

Impacts to peatlands from climate change and development


We cannot ignore the carbon impacts of future development. Keeping carbon in the ground is going to be critical to control the severity of climate change.

Photo of a retrogressive thaw slump on the Peel Plateau in northwestern Canada. Slumps can occur in regions where perennially frozen ground, permafrost, is relatively ice-rich. On the Peel Plateau, intensified warming and rainfall are accelerating ground collapse, resulting in thaw slump formation and the downslope movement of large amounts of material from land into freshwater ecosystems.
Map of human disturbance and peatlands in Canada

The Road Ahead


Peatlands are an important natural climate solution 


The path to net zero emissions by 2050 assumes that marine and terrestrial carbon sinks, including peatlands, will continue to remove about half the CO₂ emitted annually from fossil fuel combustion and land-use change. Ensuring peatlands continue to serve this essential function, while maintaining their existing carbon stores, requires a fundamental shift in how Boreal peatlands are assessed and managed in Canada. 

 We have developed a policy briefing  detailing the steps that can be taken now to make this shift. Included among these actions are:

  • Increase our understanding of how human activities affect carbon emissions from northern peatlands, including the impacts on future emissions of increased industrial activities that alter or remove peatlands and incorporate the cost of additional carbon emissions due to development prior to approving projects.
  • Design and support financial mechanisms to reduce carbon emissions associated with peatlands.
  • Invest in  Indigenous Guardians  to help monitor and protect northern peatlands and to manage IPCAs that protect carbon storehouses.
  • Invest in a national database for carbon storage and fluxes that will enable full accounting of carbon fluxes in peatlands.
  • Expand peatland inclusions as part of improving Canada’s Nationally Determined Contributions to the UNFCCC and include all relevant carbon fluxes in the national inventory reporting of greenhouse sources and sinks.
  • Develop a Pan-Canadian Peatlands Strategy that coordinates and creates policies and incentive schemes that recognize the need for the protection and restoration of peatlands across provinces and territories within the context of Canada's 2025 and 2030 Conservation Targets.

By protecting peatlands, we can address both climate change and biodiversity loss by maintaining areas rich in carbon and species. Protection of these unique systems is key to meeting Canada’s targets to reduce carbon emissions and conserve biodiversity.

Photo of Indigenous Guardians doing monitoring work in a river.

Indigenous Guardians doing monitoring work.

We need innovative approaches to keep these areas intact and carbon rich.

Credits


This work is generously supported by:

References

Goldstein A., Turner, W.R., Spawn, S.A. Anderson-Teixeira, K.J., Cook-Patton, S., Fargione, J., Gibbs, H.K., Griscom, B., Hewson, J.H., Howard, J.F., Ledezma, J.C., Page, S., Pin Koh, L., Rockstrom, J., Sanderman, J., and Hole, D.G. (2020). Protecting irrecoverable carbon in Earth’s ecosystems. Nature Climate Change, 10, 287–295.  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0738-8 

Harris, L., Richardson, K., Bona, K., Davidson, S.J., Finkelstein, S.A., Garneau, M., McLaughlinm J., Nwaishi, F., Olefeldt, D., Packalen, M., Roulet, N.T., Southee, F.M., Strack, M., Webster, K., Wilkinson, S.L., and Ray, J. (2021). The essential carbon service provided by northern peatlands. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.  https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2437 

Turetsky, M.R, Donahue, W.F., and Benscoter, B.W. (2011). Experimental drying intensifies burning and carbon losses in a northern peatland. Nature Communications, 2, 514.  https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1523 

Notes

This story map was revised and updated on November 8, 2021. This version includes:

© WCS Canada 2021

Thank you to Karen Richardson who helped conceive of the first iteration of this story map and contributed greatly to the original text.

We are grateful to the following individuals who reviewed earlier versions of this story map: K. Abraham, M. Cross, E. Cousins, B. Cundiff, F. Daviet, T. Evans, L. Harris, S. Morgan Siegers, L. Oakes, D. Pearson, L. Thomson, A. Vallillee and C. Wilkinson.

Our enormous thanks also goes to those who have provided photos: Mike Oldham, Lorna Harris, Adam Kirkwood, Amelia MacDonald, Jerry Lee, Andrew Silver and Scott Zolkos.

Cartography & Story Map Design

Meg Southee

Illustrations

Lucy Poley and Lorna Harris

Text

Lorna Harris, Meg Southee and Justina Ray

Indigenous Guardians doing monitoring work.