Peatlands are vital economic and ecological resources which contribute
to biological, landscape and cultural diversity. They comprise
characteristic assemblages of species which can exhibit intense
patterning of plant and animal communities. Peatlands are also the best
ecosystem for sequestering carbon (with current stores far exceeding
those held in rainforests).
Guidelines for Global Action on Peatlands were agreed at the last
Conference of Parties to the Ramsar Convention. These guidelines note
that “There is a wide range of threats to peatlands that require urgent
national and/or international action”.
To help counter these threats, the Ramsar Convention is working with its sister conventions, on biodiversity and climate change.
The Ramsar Secretariat is pleased to see this report, which provides a
significant step forward by presenting a summary of current knowledge
and a Strategy and an Action Plan for Central Europe; a region that still
harbours large peatland areas and types which are virtually extinct
elsewhere. But changes in land management, ownership and the nature
of economic exploitation are now placing peatland in this region under
increasing threat.
This present publication will help inform all concerned to achieve better
governance, and thereby management and conservation, for Peatlands in
Central Europe
