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Vladimir,
So many of us
know about the ecological importance of the Amazon rainforest,
but not many of us know that an equally-important
environmental feature is currently being destroyed... in
Scotland. I'm referring to soggy, boggy peatlands that don't
seem sexy but hold approximately one-third of carbon in the
earth's soil, despite only covering 3% of the earth's lands. A
1,500 square mile region in Scotland called "the Flow Country"
is the largest block of peat on the entire globe and also
constitutes the world's largest store of carbon.
Yet, for decades, people have been draining
these bogs to burn them for fuel and trying to beautify the
area with trees.
Right now, the British
government is considering whether or not it will ask Unesco to
list a portion of the Scottish peatlands as a world heritage
site. Adding the Flow Country to the world heritage list would
be a huge step towards conserving these crucial bulwarks
against global warming. In fact, if the UK were to
successfully gain world heritage status for this tract of
land, it could catapult the entire country towards reaching
its goal of going net carbon zero. While Western countries
rail against poorer nations for failing to sufficiently
protect the environment, oftentimes we haven't been doing any
better. We still need to save the rainforests — and we
also need to preserve Scottish peat moss. Now! Tell leaders in the UK that they must request
world heritage status for the Flow Country as well as pass
stronger conservation measures to preserve peatlands and save
our planet!
Thank you for all that you do,
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Miranda
B.
The Care2 Petitions Team |
P.S. Preserving
peatlands helps slow climate change by pulling carbon from our
atmosphere, while destroying them means releasing all their
stored carbon. The UK must protect peat moss and ask for Unesco
world heritage status! |
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