By Zhimin Wu, Assistant Director-General and Director of the Forestry Division, FAO

One of the most powerful players in the natural world sits quietly beneath our feet, in the form of ancient, waterlogged ecosystems that have been storing carbon, regulating water, cooling landscapes, protecting communities, and safeguarding biodiversity for thousands of years. Yet they remain critically overlooked. This must change if we are to fully benefit from what they offer.

Peatlands – which include bogs, fens, mires, and swamps – are wetland ecosystems with a unique type of soil formed from plant material that has only partially decomposed under waterlogged, oxygen-poor conditions.

They are found across at least 177 countries, from the Arctic to the tropics, from coastal lowlands to high mountain ranges, covering just 3% to 4% of the Earth’s land surface.

Nevertheless, peatlands hold roughly 30% – an estimated 450-650 gigatonnes – of global soil carbon and almost twice the carbon stock of the world’s entire forest biomass.

But peatlands are far more than carbon stores.

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Healthy, wet peatlands are among nature’s most effective buffers against the hazards that climate change is making more frequent and severe – floods, droughts, wildfires, and extreme heat.

They absorb and store excess rainfall, reducing downstream flood risk. In drier periods, they release water slowly, sustaining rivers, aquifers, and the communities that depend on them. They cool surrounding landscapes through evapotranspiration, filter water to maintain quality for drinking and agriculture, and provide unique habitats for biodiversity.

The layers of accumulated peat also contain an archive of information on changes in climate, vegetation, and human activity since the last Ice Age – making peatlands not only a resource for the future, but also an invaluable record of our past.

However, despite their clear importance, peatlands are facing rapid and largely unnoticed degradation.

An estimated 12% of the world’s peatlands have already been drained, degraded, or converted primarily for agriculture, forestry, and peat extraction, and a further 500,000 hectares are lost every year due to other human activities.

Peatland degradation is estimated to contribute up to 4% of anthropogenic emissions, excluding peat fires, transforming these ancient carbon stores into significant sources of emissions driving climate change.

The consequences extend far beyond carbon. Drained peatlands lose their capacity to store and regulate water, leaving communities more exposed to both floods and droughts. Peat subsidence caused by drainage is projected to cause the uncontrolled flooding of 10 million to 20 million hectares of productive land this century.

Every piece of peatland drained is another hole in the climate change adaptation infrastructure – at precisely the moment it is needed most.

A founding member of the Global Peatlands Initiative and the Peatland Breakthrough, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) is working with its partners to highlight what protecting and restoring peatlands can achieve for people and nature. This work on peatlands has grown substantially across the globe.

In the Congo Basin, where peatlands comprise one of the largest terrestrial carbon stocks on the planet, a project funded by the German International Climate Initiative (IKI) promotes national peatland monitoring systems and sustainable peatland livelihoods.

In Indonesia, a country that holds roughly one-third of the world’s tropical peatlands, a Green Climate Fund (GCF) project supports the country’s Green Peatland Economy. The initiative aims to transform traditional peatland use to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, protect ecosystems, and boost local community resilience.

In Uganda and Rwanda, local livelihoods depend directly on peatlands for water, food, and fuel, making their degradation both an environmental and a human challenge. There, Peat4People helps bolster peatland policy and management. Sustainable peatland management and paludiculture – the productive use of wet and rewetted peatlands that preserves the peat body and maintains ecosystem services – are helping align climate objectives with local livelihood needs.

In South America, an IKI-funded project under development aims to conserve, restore, and sustainably manage mountain and Patagonian peatlands critical for the water security of millions of people, directly advancing SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), SDG 13 (climate action), and SDG 15 (life on land).

Investing in protection and restoration of peatlands is among the most cost-effective climate actions available to any government.

On this World Peatlands Day, 2 June, governments, institutions, and communities should recognize peatlands for what they are: not only vital ecosystems but also an essential ally for building a climate-resilient world.