Accelerating peatland restoration
The AI2Peat Project aims to deliver an All-Ireland, AI-enhanced peatland condition map on top of their data and knowledge-sharing Peat Sense platform.
The problem to be addressed really is reducing CO2 emissions from degraded peatlands by “rewetting” them, which is the majority. We need to know where this is possible, and how feasible that is. We lack the condition of that peatland at the habitat scale. A national peatland “condition” map will help this. So if this project can do that, NPWS and others can better identify areas to manage and restore, and develop CO2 emission factors associated with that etc. etc.
Dr. Shane Regan (NPWS), AI2Peat’s Societal Impact Champion
Over 20% of Ireland is covered by peatlands—a critical store of carbon and unique biodiversity. These have developed over thousands of years, but in only the last couple of centuries, they have been degraded by a range of human impacts. Thankfully, Ireland is now working to preserve and restore these landscapes. As peatlands are central to Ireland’s climate action and biodiversity goals, there is an urgent need for their accurate, nationwide monitoring over time.
Peatland Condition Map
Problem
We need an unambiguous and detailed map or knowledge about the extent and condition of Irish peatlands. Their large area and inaccessibility have hampered efforts to map national peatland health. This is essential for:
- reporting as part of the Habitats Directive (Article 17 Report)
- updating Ireland’s Climate Action Plan
- identifying “low-effort, high-gain” areas to focus restoration/conservation activities
- fostering and supporting restoration financing schemes
Solution
An All-Ireland, AI-enhanced peatland ecotope map. Our project will leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) along with domain expert knowledge from the field to assess and continually monitor Ireland’s peatlands in a structured manner.
AI provides the opportunity to augment the efforts of human experts, through the use of complementary data sources (e.g. satellite imagery) combined with in-situ measurements, as well as optimally guiding the efforts of data collection on the ground.
We will work on our solution by following the Agile and CI/CD software development principles.
Peat Sense Platform
Problem
Collaboration, sharing and communication amongst all stakeholders is fundamental, i.e. knowing “who does what” and linking researchers with local communities
- sharing knowledge/data to build consensus and ensure continuity after peatland projects and other initiatives conclude
- simplifying communication between different stakeholders
- reducing the cost and effort, while improving the efficacy, of vital in-situ peatland monitoring
Solution
Peat Sense: A collaborative platform for peatland data & knowledge sharing.
Explore PeatSense, share it with your networks, and send us feedback! Bear in mind it’s in BETA mode, so not all functionalities are fully operational.
- Maps, showing peatland extent and condition;
- Directory, enlisting projects, organizations and much more revolving around peatlands;
- Peatland Glossary of terms produced by Peat Hub Ireland;
- News about peatlands fetched within Ireland, the UK and Worldwide;
- Wish List, where users can request and offer help or collaborations to other users of Peat Sense.
Our Team
The AI2Peat consortium comprises CeADAR – Ireland’s Centre for Applied AI, iCRAG – the SFI Centre for Applied Geosciences – and the NPWS – Ireland’s National Parks and Wildlife Services.
AI2Peat is funded by Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland Ireland under its Future Digital Challenge call. It started on 1st January 2023 and is currently funded until June 2025.
