Supporting the development of peatland policy, strategy and practice, and its delivery, in Wales (Welsh Peatlands Evidence)

研究翻译奖学金-与最终用户/利益相关者组织合作泥炭覆盖了威尔士21%的土地，其中90,000公顷(约4.3%)是深厚的泥炭，代表着一个巨大的碳库，估计碳储量为1.96亿吨。在良好的条件下，通过适当的管理，泥炭地有潜力继续保护其碳储存，并将碳作为新的泥炭形式锁定，因此对于应对气候变化和减轻其直接和间接影响(如野火)及其对社会的影响(如洪水)非常重要。然而，威尔士75%的泥炭地遭到破坏，它们非但没有将碳锁在地下，反而每年排放51万吨二氧化碳，从而加剧了气候变化。被破坏的泥炭地也减少了它们的所有好处，给社会带来了巨大的代价。在过去的25年里，英国各地在恢复泥炭地方面取得了稳步进展；然而，气候紧急情况，以及英国到2050年实现温室气体净零排放的土地使用政策，意味着我们需要做更多的工作来保护和恢复我们的泥炭地，而且要更快。威尔士政府(WG)和威尔士自然资源部(NRW)目前正在努力更新和制定土地使用政策、战略、行动计划和实践，以实施和整合威尔士最近的进步立法，以造福于环境和威尔士的子孙后代。他们还在制定一项新的农业支付计划，即威尔士可持续农业计划，以解决新的优先土地使用结果。在威尔士，有相当大的机会提供最新的研究证据和理解，工具和资源，以告知和评估这些倡议。对于土地所有者和管理者来说，这些变化带来了不确定性，甚至困惑和紧张，关于如何最好地管理我们的泥炭地，以及付款和优先事项的变化将如何影响他们的业务、农场景观和文化。例如，威尔士需要保护泥炭地，但也需要在范围和时间上实现雄心勃勃的国家植树目标，这两个目标可能是相互排斥的；目前还不清楚我们应该如何最好地管理泥炭地上的植被(燃料负载)，以减轻野火风险和影响。因此，重要的是，改革土地管理指导方针、成果和计划的举措必须与土地所有者和管理人员共同制定，他们最终能够在实地采取行动并付诸实施。要实现这一点，需要基于最新的科学，对泥炭地的功能和提供的好处有共同的理解。这将赋予和激励土地拥有者和管理者(例如，特别是私人农民)更好地参与制定最终更有可能被他们接受和采用的新的土地管理举措。在这项为期两年的研究翻译奖学金中，我将与15个与泥炭地相关的研究项目合作，将他们的最新研究证据、工具和资源付诸实施，以更好地为工作组和北威州土地利用倡议及其成果的发展、可持续性和采用提供信息。我将集中讨论优先主题：临界点、生态系统复原力、生物多样性保护、野火、减少洪水风险、遥感和测绘以及可持续管理。我将提供资源(简报、信息图表和动画)和活动(网络研讨会、非正式会议、实地考察和研讨会)，造福于工作组、北威州和保护区；保护非政府组织；以及私人土地所有者和管理者。我目前在斯旺西大学担任WG资助的威尔士泥炭地可持续管理计划的研究中心协调员，我已经与许多这样的组织/个人、倡议和研究人员合作。因此，我相信，这一奖学金将为威尔士泥炭地的景观管理决策提供重要参考。

Research Translation Fellowships - working alongside end-user/stakeholder organisationsPeatlands cover 21% of Wales, >90,000 ha (~4.3%) of which is deep peat and represent a huge carbon store estimated at 196 million tonnes of carbon. In good condition, and with appropriate management, peatlands have the potential to continue to protect their carbon store and lock up carbon as new peat forms, and so are important to address climate change and mitigate its direct and indirect impacts (e.g. wildfire) as well as its consequences for society (e.g. flooding). However, >75% of Welsh peatlands are damaged, and instead of keeping carbon locked in the ground, they actually contribute 510,000 Tonnes of CO2e every year, therefore fuelling climate change. Damaged peatlands also reduce all their benefits, with huge cost to society. Steady progress has been made in the restoration of peatlands across the UK over the last 25 years; however, the climate emergency, and land use policies for Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions in UK by 2050 mean we need to do a lot more to conserve and restore our peatlands, a lot more quickly. The Welsh Government (WG) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) are currently working to update and develop land use policy, strategies, action plans and practice to operationalise and integrate the progressive recent legislation in Wales to benefit the environment and future generations of Wales. They are also developing a new agricultural payments scheme, the Welsh Sustainable Farming Scheme, that addresses new priority land use outcomes. In Wales then there is considerable opportunity to contribute the latest research evidence and understanding, tools and resources to inform and evaluate these initiatives.For land owners and managers these changes have brought uncertainty, even confusion and tension, on how best to manage our peatlands and how changes in payments and priorities will affect their businesses, farm landscapes and culture. For example, Wales needs to protect peatlands, but also needs to meet ambitious national tree planting targets in both extent and time, and these two targets may be mutually exclusive; and it is not yet clear how best we should manage vegetation (fuel-loadings) on peatlands to mitigate wildfire risk and impact. It is therefore important that initiatives to reform land management guidance, outcomes and schemes are co-produced with the land owners and managers who ultimately enable and deliver action on the ground. To achieve this a shared understanding of how peatlands function and of the benefits they provide, based on up-to-date science, is required. This will empower and motivate land owners and managers (e.g. especially private farmers) to better engage with the development of new land management initiatives, that ultimately, they are more likely to accept and adopt. In this two-year research translation fellowship, I will work with 15 peatland-relevant research projects to operationalise their latest research evidence, tools and resources to better inform the development, sustainability and adoption of WG and NRW land-use initiatives and their outcomes. I will focus on the priority topics: tipping points, ecosystem resilience, biodiversity conservation, wildfire, flood risk reduction, remote sensing and mapping, and sustainable management. I will deliver resources (briefings, infographics and animations) and events (webinars, informal meetings, site visits and workshops) for the benefit of WG, NRW, and protected areas; conservation NGOs; and private landowners and managers. In my current role at Swansea University, as Research Hub Coordinator for the WG funded 'Welsh Peatlands Sustainable Management Scheme', I already work with many of these organisations / individuals, initiatives - and researchers. As such I am confident that this fellowship would significantly inform landscape management decisions for Welsh peatlands.