The fact our peatlands are owned on a landscape scale provides an opportunity for meaningful carbon storage, not the problem Patrick Greenfield suggests (Just 124 people own most of England’s deep peat – its largest carbon store, 15 Nov). Encouraging those with the resources to deliver real change on the ground, many of whom are already doing so, is far easier than convincing thousands of small landowners to deliver the environmental goods we need to protect our climate.
Good management of these peatlands not only helps to store precious carbon, but also reduces the risks of wildfires that can release centuries of stored carbon in a single night. Worrying about how our peatlands are managed, rather than who owns them, is the key to their future.