The forgotten forests: Incorporating temperate peat‐forming wet woodlands as nature‐based solutions into policy and practice

Abstract

Peat‐forming wet woodlands (forested wetlands) are naturally occurring carbon‐dense ecosystems that have considerable potential to form an important part of net zero woodland establishment and peatland strategies, as well as provide crucial co‐benefits to restore biodiversity and regulate hydrological systems. Despite their potential, temperate peat‐forming wet woodlands have been widely lost, are critically understudied and are being overlooked in land‐use strategies. Unlike temperate ‘dry’ woodlands, some wet woodlands are peat forming and can store large amounts of carbon below‐ground in peat in addition to the carbon in the tree biomass. The complex structure of these peat‐forming wet woodlands creates high abiotic heterogeneity, resulting in a wide variety of microhabitats to support high levels of biodiversity, and this structural complexity can also increase water storage in the landscape and slow flood flows, providing natural flood protection. Co‐written by experts in academia and UK Government, we highlight critical knowledge gaps in our understanding of peat‐forming wet woodlands that, once addressed, could form the basis for radical changes to their inclusion in net zero and land‐use policies. Policy and practice implications: The significant role that peatland restoration has to play in reaching net zero presents an immediate policy opportunity to consider the full range of ecosystems to achieve net zero targets, while protecting and enhancing socio‐ecological sustainability. In co‐writing this paper, our aim is to stimulate discussion and sharing of knowledge between those involved in research, policy and practice in order to strengthen the evidence base for peat‐forming wet woodland re‐establishment and future management. We call on researchers, policymakers and land managers to take temperate wet woodlands from understudied and overlooked, to integrated ecosystems that hold great promise in the contributions they can make as nature‐based solutions.