Peatland GHG Project

Starting in early 2023, our three-year Peatland Greenhouse Gas (GHG) project seeks to improve our knowledge around carbon storage and emissions from Falklands habitats, with the data helping to inform restoration opportunities and management decisions in the Falkland Islands. A primary aim of the project is to assess the potential for carbon offsetting in the future.

The project is funded by the UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Falkland Islands Government and the RSK Group and is working in collaboration with SAERI, UK CEH and BAS.

Anecdotally, we know that there is a trend of drying climate in the Falkland Islands and drying land is contributing to the reduction of vegetation. As a consequence, there is reduced capacity to support the primary rural activity of sheep farming, which itself can impact vegetation cover though grazing pressure, negatively affecting native ecosystems.

Furthermore, a drying climate could impact the vast peatland carbon stores of the Islands. This is because changing conditions facilitate increased organic matter breakdown which is known to influence the rate of GHG emissions, like carbon dioxide.

The knowledge generated by this project could help address these challenges through the possible implementation of a carbon offsetting scheme, the value of which is generated through environmental improvements which reduce carbon emissions from peatlands. Such a scheme could also provide an alternative rural livelihood for landowners.

The project so far

The project is made up of three components, which will broadly run alongside each other, these being:

1. Improving our understanding of current GHG emissions from habitats

This will be achieved through the deployment of GHG flux towers and chambers to create a network across the Falkland Islands. This will provide data on the sequestration or release rates of key GHGs (Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4) and Nitrous Oxide (N2O)).

2. Investigating the current and historical accumulation and erosion of peat

This will be achieved through the study of peat cores, which will also illustrate carbon storage capacity of the environment now and into the future.

3. Assessing the carbon offsetting opportunity in the Falkland Islands

The project will achieve this by garnering environmental data around the benefits, considerations, and risks of a carbon offsetting scheme, while also incorporating the thoughts of the community.

What have we achieved?

The setup

Much of 2023 focused on getting all the necessary equipment to the Falklands. This comprised of nearly 300 individual items, many of which made their way to the Islands on the monthly delivery ship. By December 2023, everything had arrived, and we readied ourselves to begin gathering data.

Whilst awaiting equipment delivery, the project was introduced to the community at ‘Farmers Week’, an annual event which brings together landowners, farmers, government, organisations, and members of the public to discuss all things agriculture.

Falklands Conservation spoke about the challenges and opportunities it is working to address and deliver, including this project. It was encouraging to have plenty of questions from the audience on the project – an important first step to begin engagement with the community.

Measuring GHG flux

The project will use four flux towers and a network of 20 flux chamber sites to measure GHG emissions from across the Islands. Flux towers are tripod structures bristling with sensors and analysers which are established in the environment and capture high-resolution data constantly (20 times a second!). The data captured comprises of everything from soil moisture, solar radiation, wind speed and importantly, concentrations of GHGs – sampling an area approximately 100m wide.

The chamber network is a series of discreet points at which measurements will be taken monthly, again, capturing information on moisture, light and GHG flux. Specialists from UK CEH installed two flux towers on East Falkland to allow comparison of terrestrial white grass type habitats, and another two on smaller islands to assess the effect of tussac restoration. By the end of February, GHG emissions data were being collected from all the sites.

Methane analysers update

In October 2024, one of the project’s two methane analysers was relocated from Bleaker Island to Horseshoe Bay on East Falkland. This decision was based on data collected during the initial deployment.

The Bleaker Island site, a restored tussac grass area with an open canopy and drier, dusty peat soil, offered less potential for new insights compared to Horseshoe Bay. The new site features a closed canopy dominated by diddle-dee, consolidated peat, and likely higher soil moisture—a key factor in methane flux.

The flux towers were prepped during installation to accommodate analyser movement, simplifying the relocation. The project looks forward to the fresh data and deeper understanding of peatland greenhouse gas flux in the Falklands.

Coring peat

Peat cores are being used to provide insight into historical peat accumulation rates and current carbon storage capacity under different habitat conditions. The core sampling and associated peat depth surveying was carried out by a team from BAS in February 2024.

The team took cores at each flux tower site to provide data on the specific situation around each tower. The collected peat cores will be transferred to the UK for full analysis, including bulk density, carbon content, radiocarbon dating and change ecology data.

Visit our blog page for more info on the project activities

Next Steps

The project will continue to collect GHG data over the next two years, with monthly sampling across the chamber network and regular data retrieval from towers also taking place. These data will be analysed to provide emission factors for the different habitat types.

Additionally, in the next few months, work will commence to assess the feasibility of carbon offsetting in the Falklands, considering everything from project opportunities to financial risks and legal concerns.

Funding for the project is primarily provided by Defra (UK), with further contributions from the Falkland Islands Government in the form of additional equipment. RSK have also contributed by providing funding for a Project Leader to manage and deliver the project.

If you have any questions about the Peatland Greenhouse Gas Project, please don’t hesitate to contact info@conservation.org.fk