Peatland Restoration
Debate between Lord Katz and Lord Bishop of Norwich
The Lord Bishop of Norwich
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of peatland restoration for flood resilience and nature recovery.
Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Katz) (Lab)
My Lords, peatland restoration provides multiple benefits. It improves flood resilience by slowing water leaving the uplands and significantly reducing peak flows. Peatlands make up the UK’s largest extent of semi-natural habitat, so action to restore them makes an important contribution to delivering biodiversity targets. In the environmental improvement plan, this Government committed to restoring 40,000 hectares of peatland by 2030. To help to achieve this, we will extend our peatland grant scheme by a further year.
The Lord Bishop of Norwich
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for his reply. My understanding is that so far we have restored a quarter of a million hectares, against a target of 2 million hectares by 2040. That is only 10%. As the noble Lord says, it is crucial that we do this, to keep water higher up in the catchment area for biodiversity and for carbon storage. What plan do the Government have to enable degraded peatlands to be restored? Will that plan be produced in conjunction with the devolved powers? How are the Government proposing to engage with people in communities that regularly use peatland for farming and other purposes? I declare an interest because my forebear Bishops of Norwich largely controlled the digging of peat that created the Norfolk Broads.
Lord Katz (Lab)
I thank the right reverend Prelate for his questions and for claiming that inherited responsibility. He is absolutely right about the importance of peatlands. They have been referred to as the UK’s rainforest. They store vast amounts of carbon, regulate water flow and support biodiversity. Restoration is currently funded through the national peatland grant scheme, which we have extended for an additional year, as I said. Following this, restoration will primarily be supported through environmental land management schemes such as Landscape Recovery and Countryside Stewardship, which are expected to bring at least 35,000 hectares of peatland into restoration by 2050. We expect that to happen under the most recent round of the Landscape Recovery scheme.
The Government regularly speak to a wide range of stakeholders including those involved in peatland restoration, such as wildlife trusts, national parks, the horticultural sector, landowners and farmers, as well as our partners in local, regional and other national Governments. By 2030, we will invest £85 million to restore and manage our peatlands, which will include support for water infrastructure, peatland restoration and the trials of farming on higher water tables.
Rivers and Estuaries: Derelict Boats
Debate between Lord Katz and Lord Bishop of Norwich
Lord Katz (Lab)
My Lords, we leave such matters to the experts. My noble friend raises an interesting point, which I am sure navigation authorities consider. This is why it is important that the Government, while they are in close consultation with navigation authorities, do not step in on operational matters but ensure that navigation authorities are working with communities, stakeholders and—equally importantly—the owners to ensure safe disposal.
The Lord Bishop of Norwich
My Lords, the Broads Authority has had to spend £70,000 this year to raise two sunken boats in the Norfolk Broads. Will the Minister progress the recommendation in Defra’s Landscapes Review to remove the unnecessary complexities placed on the Broads Authority to account separately for income and expenditure from national park grant and from navigation, which would certainly enable the Broads Authority to undertake such work in a less complex way?
Lord Katz (Lab)
The right reverend Prelate raises an important point. All the navigation authorities have different set-ups, corporate structures and funding patterns. He raises the framework agreement; I will certainly take that issue back to colleagues in Defra to better understand the progress of that agreement.