Workshop “Wetlands, peatlands, mires: key players in carbon sequestration and climate change prevention”

As part of the cooperation with universities of the BRICS Network University, a master class “Wetlands, peatlands, worlds: key players in carbon sequestration and climate change prevention” will be held on November 28 from 10:30 to 12:00 (Moscow time).

Speaker — Dr Irina Volkova, Associate Professor of Department of Botany, Head of the Master's Program “Biodiversity”, Researcher of BioClimLand Center, Coordinator of Wetland Center, National Research Tomsk State University

The master class will be devoted to the impact of forest wetlands on the climate agenda. The area of forest wetlands in Russia reaches 128 thousand hectares, and the carbon content in them exceeds 9 million tons. But, unlike forests and meadows, wetlands are less productive in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This is due to the fact that the volume of CO₂ absorption by wetlands is less than the volume of its emission.

The ability of wetlands to absorb carbon dioxide is about 1.7 million tons per year, and forests — about 1.2 billion tons per year due to their vast areas, although 1 hectare of forest absorbs only about 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide, and 1 hectare of wetlands — 9 times more. At the same time, 1 hectare of wetlands emits about 0.48 kg of nitrous oxide and at least 410 kg of methane per year, and this is comparable to 33 tons of carbon. It should be also taken into account that any peat fire leads to an increase in emissions. It turns out that greenhouse gas emissions in wetlands exceed their absorption by almost 2.5 times. Despite the fact that wetlands play a minimal role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, it is important to preserve this ecosystem: do not drain wetlands for peat extraction and do not involve them in forestry or agriculture, but, on the contrary, prevent the degradation of pristine wetlands and restore disturbed ones. It should be noted that the Far East and the Urals are famous for the largest forest wetlands: 36.5 thousand hectares and 35.3 thousand hectares, respectively.

Date and time of the event: November 28, 2024 from 10:30 till 12.00 (Moscow time).

Location: Moscow, Podolsk highway 8/5 (hall 3098).