The Carbon Farmer
Sci-Fi Meets Reality
Peatlands cover 12% of the UK's landmass.
It is a tremendous natural asset, but has been severely degraded in recent years.
Healthy peatland works as a sink for atmospheric carbon.
Degraded peat actively releases greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.
The UK's peat moorlands are currently so degraded that they release around
20 million tonnes of CO2
(equivalent) a year - enough CO2e to completely undermine 50% of our annual efforts to reduce national greenhouse gas emissions from all other sources .
What kind of world do we want to live in?
The consensus between scientists and moorland managers is that, properly managed, peat moorland can provide a multitude of services simultaneously: sheep can be grazed; wild game can thrive; biodiversity can flourish; water can be stored to alleviate the threat of flooding and of drought; water is naturally filtered to provide cleaner drinking water; and carbon dioxide can be actively sequestered from the atmosphere.
However, the only subsidies currently available for managing this land are for either agriculture or biodiversity; these things are rarely achieved effectively, yet that is all that it receives.
It doesn’t have to stay that way. This land could be managed for tremendous public benefit.
Prioritise management of the land for carbon. Combat climate change, and every other benefit can be achieved to it’s highest possible potential.
The Carbon Farmer
was produced with support from
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How to use this film
What do you think of the ideas proposed in The Carbon Farmer? Share the film on social media, with family and friends, and get talking about the kind of future we want to be living in.
Do you live or work around peatlands? Use this film to spark conversation about how they're managed and how they could be managed. Bring it up at local council meetings, or advocacy groups.
Take this film to your MP, to encourage a shift to an agri-environmental policy that supports responsible land management, the valuation of land-manager's actions, and keeps carbon locked up in the ground. Want some help with this? Talk to Hope For The Future.
Resources
Below are listed some additional resources on current and proposed peatland management strategies:
The Carbon Farmer Stakeholder Considerations
The Top Of The Tree
Peatland Code
IUCN NCUK
Peatland Programme
Peatland Strategy
IUCN NCUK
Peatland Programme
Credits
The Carbon Farmer was Produced, Written and Directed by Andy Clark
Chief Science Advisor
Richard Lindsay
University of East London
The Carbon Farmer
Melvyn Rawlinson
Sophie
Megan Purvis
Director of Photography
Benjamin Sadd
Editor
Andy Clark
Sound Recordist,
Sound Design,
and Composer
Peter Baumann
Visual Effects
Engine House
and Andy Clark
Additional Footage Courtesy of
RSPB
The Flow Country
The Peatlands Partnership
Cumbria Wildlife Trust
Envato Market
3D Map Provided by
Dr Ben Clutterbuck
Additional Thanks To
Quest UAV
TGB ATV
One Zero One Studio
With Thanks to other Contributors to Knowledge*:
Clifton Bain
IUCN NCUK Peatland Programme
Professor Chris Evans
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Sam Durham
National Farmers Union
Jon Stewart
National Trust
Rob Stoneman
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust
Stephen Trotter
The Wildlife Trusts
Sarah Robinson
Hope For The Future
Chris Wood
National Trust
Jillian Hoy
IUCN NCUK Peatland Programme
Dr Marta Santamaria
Natural Capital Coalition
Ian Rotherham
BES Special Interest Group for Peatlands
Dr Pat Thompson
RSPB
Stuart Brooks
National Trust for Scotland
Amanda Anderson
Moorland Association
Andrew Bauer
National Farmers Union Scotland
Peter Melchett
The Soil Association
Davie Black
Plantlife Scotland
Sarah Palmer
National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs
Professor Joe Holden
University of Leeds
Graeme Willis
Campaign to Protect Rural England
Olly Watts
RSPB
Alison Hallas
Ramblers
Stephen Russell
Ramblers
Ben McCarthy
Plantlife
Julia Martin-Ortega
University of Leeds
Tom Bliss
University of Leeds and
United Bank of Carbon
Dr Iain Watts
Forum For The Future
Anne Gray
Scottish Land and Estates
Ed Lawrence
United Utilities
Professor Steve Ormerod
Cardiff University
Max Wakefield
10:10
Matt Williams
Conservationist and Wildlife Photographer
Ben Eagle
Agricultural Writer and Blogger
Adele Jones
Sustainable Food Trust
*Credit as a Contributor of Knowledge does not represent official endorsement of The Carbon Farmer film or any of the themes discussed therein, on behalf or the individual nor any affiliated organisation. Simply, Contributors to Knowledge have been contacted by Producer Andy Clark as a part of research for this production, and their views taken into account.