Exploring the Future of Lowland Agricultural Peat Conference
The Fenland Soil 2025 conference will be hosted in The Maltings, Ely, Cambridgeshire, between 28th and 29th January. It will bring together key stakeholders with interests in lowland agricultural peat.
Fenland SOIL, originally called the Fenland Peat Committee was set up in Spring 2021 by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) Independent Climate Change Panel to address the issue of agricultural soil carbon emission in the East Anglian Fens. The committee is made up of a team of farmers, conservationists, and academics and aims to ‘inform and develop ‘whole farm’ land use policies aimed at achieving climate change mitigation and biodiversity enhancement in the Fens, and to help establish an agreed set of numbers for GHG emissions for deep, shallow and wasted peat soils’.
Learn More: https://www.fenlandsoil.org/conference-2025/
Estimates currently suggest that agricultural land use in the Cambridgeshire Fens are currently producing about 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 per year. Equivalent to 45% of the total emissions for Cambridgeshire. Reduction of soil carbon emissions are a top priority in the CCC Sixth Carbon Budget with the government aiming to restore 47% of peatland by 2035 and 17% by 2050. By 2050 the government wants 60% of lowland peat rewetted or sustainably managed. Without the knowledge of exactly how much peat is left both in terms of extent and depth, the high likelihood is that non-peat soils are being included in emissions estimates, this is an issue for all Fenland Farmers.
Government proposes that we rewet or rewild or restore our agricultural land in the Fens, either restoring the land to natural fenland habitats or adopting palludiculture as a mitigation method. This would see food production migrate from the Fens to mineral soils elsewhere in the country and beyond. It’s unclear what the implications would be on the environment and emissions for the increased fertiliser and irrigation use needed on mineral soils. It is also unclear how we would be able to maintain food security in the UK with over 1/3 of the UK’s fresh produce coming from the Fens if production is forced elsewhere.
Academics, policy makers, stakeholders and industry experts will share their insights covering 6 conference themes:
- Future Scenarios and Climate of the Fens
- Water – How do we change the way we manage water in Lowland Agricultural Peat Landscapes?
- We need to talk about Regen – developing sustainable farming practices for the context of Lowland Agricultural Peat
- Systems Thinking – An Integrated Approach
- Governance and Engagement Challenges
- Economics and Finance – Funding Change
Learn More: https://www.fenlandsoil.org/conference-2025/