Bio-rights is an innovative financing mechanism for reconciling poverty alleviation and environmental conservation. By providing micro-credits for sustainable development, the approach enables local communities to refrain from unsustainable practices and be actively involved in environmental conservation and restoration. Micro-credits are converted into definitive payments upon successful delivery of conservation services at the end of a contracting period.

This publication is meant to provide insight in the global greenhouse gas emissions from peatlands and formulates some UN-FCCC policy approaches to addressing these issues, as input to COP14 in Poznan. All over the world, precious peatland ecosystems, with a unique nature and beauty are degraded and destroyed. Peatswamp forests in Indonesia are drained and logged; tundra peatlands are affected by global warming and mountain peatlands like in the Himalayas are subject to overgrazing and mining.

This booklet provides you with a all the most recent facts and figures about peatlands, with a focus on tropical peatlands. Subjects that are explained are peatland occurance, their rate of degradation globally, carbon loss and impacts on climate change and facts about restoration efforts.

This first comprehensive global assessment on the links between peatland degradation and climate change shows that clearance, drainage and fires in peatlands emit more than 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, equivalent to 10% of global emissions from fossil fuels. Protection and restoration of peatlands are among the most cost- effective options for climate change mitigation

Peatland degradation, deforestation and fires cause these areas to contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. International investors and development agencies recognise the potential cost efficiency of avoided further carbon emissions at relatively low costs. Such measures, however, cannot be effective without the full support of local communities.

This report presents shocking figures on CO2 emissions from drained peatland areas. These areas were once swamp forests. Due to extensive drainage for logging, palm oil plantations and pulp wood, the peat oxidates into huge amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2).

A study of Delft Hydraulics in cooperation with Wetlands International and Alterra.