Major Peatlands of the World

Peatlands are waterlogged terrestrial wetlands where partially decayed plant matter accumulates slowly under oxygen-poor conditions. The resulting peat is a carbon-rich soil that forms in mires, bogs, fens and peat swamps. Although peatlands cover only about 3% of the global land surface, they are among the world’s most important carbon stores and play a major role in climate regulation.

Why Peatlands Matter

• Huge carbon stock: Pristine peatlands store about 550 to 600 gigatonnes of carbon globally, more than all the world’s forest biomass combined.
• Annual sequestration: Healthy peatlands sequester around 0.096 petagrams of carbon annually.
• Climate role: They act as long-term carbon sinks when waterlogged and undisturbed.
• Emissions when degraded: Drained peatlands turn into sources of carbon dioxide and contribute nearly 4% to 5% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, excluding fires.
• Wetland status: Peatlands are found in over half of all designated Ramsar sites worldwide, but only 17% of global peatlands are officially protected.

Major Peatlands of the World

Tropical Peatland Complexes: Congo and Amazon Basins

• Cuvette Centrale: This transboundary peatland spans about 145,000 square kilometres across the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo.
• Carbon significance: It holds nearly 28% of the global tropical peat carbon pool and is equivalent to roughly three years of global fossil fuel emissions.
• Threats: Logging, agricultural expansion, and oil and gas concessions pose major risks to this carbon-dense landscape.
• Pastaza-Marañón Basin (PMFB): Located in northwestern Peru, the PMFB covers about 35,000 to 36,000 square kilometres and is the largest tropical peatland complex in the Amazon Basin.
• Vegetation: These peatlands are dominated by palm swamp forests, especially the aguaje palm (Mauritia flexuosa).
• Climate sensitivity: Warming temperatures can weaken this sink and turn it into a carbon source.

Boreal and High-Latitude Peatlands: Russia and Canada

• West Siberian Lowland: This region stores over 70 billion tonnes of carbon and represents the world’s largest high-latitude peatland pool.
• Permafrost risk: Rapid Arctic warming threatens this reservoir by accelerating permafrost thaw.
• Dissolved organic carbon (DOC): Thawing Siberian peatlands release large amounts of DOC into Arctic rivers, affecting the biogeochemical cycle of the Arctic Ocean.
• Hudson Bay Lowlands: Spanning about 124,000 square miles in northern Canada, this is the second-largest peatland complex globally.
• Ecological importance: It hosts North America’s lowest-latitude continuous permafrost and provides habitat for polar bears and caribou.
• Industrial pressure: These peatlands face disturbance from mining in northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire region and from oil sands extraction in Alberta.

Peat Fires, Emissions and Monitoring

• Subsurface burning: Dry peat fires burn below the surface, smouldering for long periods and releasing toxic smoke.
• Health hazard: Smoke from peat fires contains fine particulate matter and harmful gases that affect respiratory health.
• Detection challenge: Thick forest canopies and heavy smoke can obscure underground smouldering, making peat fires difficult to detect fully through satellites.
• Monitoring tools: NASA’s Aqua satellite uses MODIS sensors to detect thermal anomalies and smoke plumes from active fires.
• Regional surveillance: The ASEAN Specialized Meteorological Centre in Singapore tracks fire activity across Southeast Asia.
• Global initiative: The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)-led Global Peatlands Initiative aims to conserve peatlands as the world’s largest terrestrial organic carbon stock.

Key Prelims Takeaways

• Carbon-rich soil: Peat forms from partially decomposed plant material in waterlogged conditions.
• Key ecosystem types: Active peat-accumulating wetlands are called mires, bogs, fens and peat swamps.
• Carbon density: Peatlands store far more carbon per unit area than dry tropical forests.
• Sphagnum moss: This moss genus is a major peat-former in boreal peatlands and helps retain water like a sponge.
• Methane risk: Flooded or thawing peatlands can release methane, a much stronger warming gas than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period.
• Global spread: Peatlands occur on every continent, from sub-polar bogs to tropical swamp forests.
• Ramsar relevance: Their presence in many Ramsar sites makes peatlands important for wetland conservation and climate resilience.

Recent Context

Indonesia’s peat fires intensified across Kalimantan and Sumatra in 2026 amid El Niño-driven drought, rising temperatures and widespread peat degradation. Heavy smoke, underground burning and limited rainfall made control difficult, while satellite monitoring showed a sharp rise in hotspots and greenhouse gas emissions.