Unresolved questions on Ireland’s bogs identified in major international peatland study

28 Apr 2026

Peatlands are increasingly central to climate action in Ireland, yet some of the most basic questions about how they function, recover, and respond to change remain unresolved. 

Now these key uncertainties surrounding peatlands, including Ireland’s bogs, such as their climate resilience, the future of its biodiversity, and how best they can be managed, are to feature under a new set of priority research questions identified in a major global study. 

An international team of scientists has identified the most pressing unanswered questions in peatland research, providing a global roadmap to guide future science, policy, and restoration efforts for one of the planet’s most important and threatened ecosystems.  

The study, published in Communications Earth and Environment brings together input from 467 participants across 54 countries, including Ireland, to determine which research questions matter most for understanding and protecting peatlands. By surveying and synthesising the views of peatland experts worldwide, the research highlights where scientific uncertainty is greatest and where new knowledge could deliver the biggest benefits for climate mitigation, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable land management. 

The Republic of Ireland has second highest proportion of peatland cover in Europe, with approximately 21% of our land area composed of peat. It’s estimated that Irish peatlands store 2216 mega tonnes of carbon, making them one of Irelands largest natural carbon stores. Despite their importance, notable gaps persist in understanding how peatlands respond to climate change, how restoration efforts perform over decades, and how best to balance environmental protection with the needs of local communities who depend on peatland landscapes. 

To address this challenge, the research team conducted a structured global survey of peatland scientists, practitioners, and policy experts. Participants were asked to propose the most important unanswered questions in peatland research, spanning disciplines from ecology and hydrology to biogeochemistry, climate science, and social science. The final list reflects broad international input and captures priorities across boreal, temperate, and tropical peatlands from bogs in Europe to the vast peat swamp forests of Southeast Asia and the Arctic tundra. 

Rather than solely focusing on narrow technical issues, the priority questions also emphasise broad, cross-cutting challenges. These include:  

• How will climate change impact the carbon balance, carbon storage capacity, and greenhouse gas emissions of peatlands and what are the mechanisms and factors (e.g., seasonal changes) that influence these processes? 
• What is the resilience of peatland ecosystems across different climate zones and conditions (degraded, restored, pristine) and what indicators can be used to evaluate and monitor this resilience? 
• How do management practices during peatland restoration affect carbon fluxes? 
• How can remote sensing be used to identify and map peatland areas (including underlying forest), estimate peat depth, carbon storage and fluxes? 
• What policy frameworks and improvements at international and national levels are needed to effectively protect, conserve, and sustainably manage peatlands long-term? 
• How can global environmental initiatives incentivise peatland management in equitable and just ways that benefit and empower local communities and organisations as agents of change, whilst optimising climate, biodiversity, and ecosystem services? 

Interest in peatlands has grown rapidly in recent years as countries look for nature-based solutions to help meet climate targets. Peatland protection and restoration feature increasingly in national climate strategies in countries such as Ireland, the UK, Indonesia, Canada, and Finland, and peatlands are now on the agenda of international climate and biodiversity frameworks.  

“In Ireland, we’re dealing with landscapes where up to 80% of our bogs have already been degraded. Restoration is often framed as simply rewetting, but it’s far more complex than that. These systems have been shaped by decades of drainage and extraction” said Dr Michelle McKeown, UCC Sustainability Institute and Dept of Geography, UCC who is co-author of the study.  “These priority questions are essential if we want restoration to genuinely reduce emissions, support biodiversity, and deliver long-term climate benefits.” 

The authors hope the priority list will be used by the peatland research community, funding agencies, research institutions, and policymakers to guide collaboration and future. As climate change accelerates and pressure on peatland ecosystems grows, the researchers argue that answering these priority questions is no longer optional.  

“Peatlands are increasingly recognised as critical ecosystems for climate action, but we still don’t have all the answers we need to manage them effectively,” said Dr Alice Milner, Associate Professor in Geography at Royal Holloway University of London and lead author of the study. “By identifying the most urgent research questions, this work helps focus global effort.”