Improving Falkland peatland GHG data: understanding carbon sequestration and offsetting feasibility

Project Overview

The Falkland Islands hold one of the largest stores of peatland carbon in the world. However, climate change and establishment of extensive livestock grazing, are putting at risk this delicate environment, reducing the capacity of the peatlands to sequester carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere through peat formation, and possibly leading to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in some areas.

This project, funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Falkland Islands Government (FIG), is currently assessing peatlands carbon dynamics in more than twenty locations throughout Falkland Islands in order to better understand the drivers of these emissions and to lay solid scientific foundations that might sustain the development of a Falkland Islands specific carbon code.

Project Objectives

Quantification of the GHG dynamics (CO2, CH4 and N2O) of the Falkland Islands peatland habitats at both spatial and temporal scale.

Collection of important ancillary environmental and climatic data like rainfall, soil moisture, soil temperature and water table depth.
To lay the necessary robust scientific evidence base for the possible development of a Falkland Island specific Carbon code.
To inform national-level Greenhouse gas emission budget reporting in order to facilitate decision making for a future Falkland Islands carbon offsetting scheme.

Project Funding and Partners

This project is funded by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Falkland Islands Government (FIG)
PROJECT PARTNERS: 

Project Manager

DR VALERIA MAZZOLA

Valeria joined SAERI in April 2024 as a peatland greenhouse gas flux scientist working on the project “Improving Falkland peatland GHG data: understanding carbon sequestration and offsetting feasibility”. Valeria obtained her bachelor and master degrees in Forestry and Environmental Science in Turin (Italy). She then pursued her PhD at the University of Aberdeen, together with the James Hutton Institute and Forest research, where she worked on “Aspects of Peatland Restoration Strategies in the Context of Climate Change Mitigation”, performing fieldwork in remote areas of Scotland. After spending two years in Germany as a Bioenergy modeller at the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology, her love for peat and wilderness brought her here in Falkland Islands…back to peatland science and beautiful wild sceneries!
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