IUCN UK Peatland Programme Director, Emma Hinchliffe, opened the 14th annual conference with a welcome to online and in-person attendees. With over 350 people expected to attend in person over the three-day conference, Emma remarked that this made the conference the largest gathering of peatland experts in the UK to date.
Reflecting on progress and challenges
Jim Fairley, MSP for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire, and Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, reflected on his childhood memories of the Cairngorms, before it became a national park. He said it was important to celebrate how far we’ve come, whilst recognising challenges. Claudia Rowse, Deputy Director of Green Economy, NatureScot, and Peatland ACTION partnership representative, also spoke of having “been on a journey of despair to hope” and highlighted the challenges that needed to be addressed to scale up peatland restoration. Bringing the session to a close, Grant Moir, Chief Executive Officer of the Cairngorms National Park, gave an overview of the progress against the Cairngorms National Park Plan and the need to ensure people and wildlife thrive together as peatland restoration gathers pace.
You can watch the video below.
Engaging communities and creating connections
Sara Booth-Card, Thematic Campaign Lead for the Wildlife Trusts, introduced the Engaging Communities and Creating Connections session promising to "wow you with People Power". She discussed how communities and individuals engage with peatlands in many different ways, and highlighted the importance of providing diverse opportunities to meet needs and interests. We then heard from community initiatives from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, all working to create connections to peatlands.
You can watch the video below.
UK Peatland Strategy summary of progress
Stuart Brooks, Director of Conservation for The National Trust for Scotland, and Chair of the IUCN UK Peatland Programme, introduced the final session which presented a summary of progress against the UK Peatland Strategy, first published in 2018. Stuart then chaired a panel of representatives from the four devolved nations taking questions on the findings of the review.
You can watch the video below.
You can see all the recordings from our 2024 conference on our YouTube channel.
