The Virtual Peatlands Pavilion is a huge virtual reality space filled with diverse and inspiring resources from around the world. Peatlands are found in 177 countries and represented on every continent, from tropical swamp forests to sub-Antarctic mires. The Virtual Peatlands Pavilion enables online explorers to discover these diverse places in a lower carbon and cost-free alternative to physical travel.
To raise awareness of the global distribution and importance of peatlands, the Virtual Peatlands Pavilion is joining international events throughout 2025, digitally showcasing the latest in peatland science, policy, art, practice and more.
Despite only covering around 3% of the world’s land surface, peatlands store more than twice as much carbon as the world’s forests. Sadly, many peatlands are damaged and have therefore become sources of carbon emissions. The Virtual Peatlands Pavilion shares the work of the many and varied organisations working to restore and protect peatlands and champion their importance for biodiversity, carbon storage, flood management and as historical and cultural archives deeply linked to human identity and survival.
The pavilion features everything from family-friendly videos, animations and cartoons to the latest peatland policy reports and scientific briefings. As a giant dragonfly zooms over your head, step up to a virtual globe where you can visit peatlands around the world through immersive tours and photo stories. There are peatland podcasts, the latest peatland films and displays of beautiful peatland artwork.
A joint initiative between the United Nations Environment Programme-led Global Peatlands Initiative and the IUCN UK Peatland Programme, the Virtual Peatlands Pavilion is created and curated by Richard Lindsay, a global peatland expert from the University of East London. The pavilion is modelled on the leaves of peat-forming Sphagnum moss and will be sited in different peatland habitats connected to the world tour.
The tour sees the pavilion being showcased at climate and conservation events from Zimbabwe to Brazil. Those in attendance at these events will be invited to explore the pavilion, joined by fellow explorers from around the world, who will be able to join some of the events through the Peatland Cinema on Floor 9. This week's event, ‘African tropical peatlands: their value and vulnerability’, is the first ever conference on African peatlands for researchers in the field. Organised by the Royal Society on 17th and 18th February, this hybrid event presents new findings on the ecology, biodiversity, greenhouse gas fluxes, current management, and potential futures of these vulnerable ecosystems.
If you have a peatland resource you would like to share through the pavilion, you can submit it here: https://forms.gle/o3bbvmdWQmU7Lbxk9.
Immerse yourself in the extraordinarily rich and diverse world of peatlands and enter the Virtual Peatlands Pavilion.
The Global Peatlands Initiative is an effort by leading experts and institutions formed at the UNFCCC COP in Marrakech, Morocco in 2016 to save peatlands as the world’s largest terrestrial organic carbon stock and to prevent it being emitted into the atmosphere.
The IUCN UK Peatland Programme exists to promote peatland restoration in the UK and advocates the multiple benefits of peatlands through partnerships, strong science, sound policy and effective practice.
