MINNESOTA—Far north of the tropical wetlands that it seeks to protect, the Sustainable Wetlands Adaptation and Mitigation Program, or SWAMP, works in tropical peatlands and mangroves. The program was among the presentations at the 26th Conference of the Parties in Glasgow, Scotland. The climate conference, which was held Nov. 1-12, drew representatives from countries around the world, including President Biden.

The USDA Forest Service International Programs, Northern Research Station, Center for International Forestry Research, and many other organizations and institutions comprise the SWAMP partnership. Largely funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, SWAMP develops both scientific capacity and knowledge about how to manage these ecosystems sustainably, with the goal of filling knowledge gaps in carbon cycling and greenhouse gas dynamics and building regional capacity for climate change research and wetland carbon accounting. Specific activities include mapping distribution and condition of peatlands, development of emissions factors for land use in peatlands, synthesizing relevant research and policy relevant to tropical wetlands, and providing scientific advice and training to government, non-profit, and university partners.

One of the sessions organized by SWAMP as part of the COP26 Peatland Pavilion was coordinated by Erik Lilleskov, a research ecologist with the Northern Research Station’s Climate, Fire and Carbon Cycle Science unit, and Rupesh Bhomia of the Center for International Forestry Research. The Peatland Pavilion was itself organized by the Global Peatland Initiative, a collaboration between the United Nations, member states, non-government organizations, academia, practitioners, business communities and people. 
Globally, peatlands are reported to store about 30% of soil carbon on 3% of the land; tropical peatlands represent about 20% of the world’s peatlands. Tropical wetlands, which include peatlands and mangrove forests, play an important role in climate change adaptation and mitigation as well as providing food, fiber, fuel and storm protection for local people and habitat for rare species. The global importance of peatlands and their vulnerability to land use change spurred the formation of SWAMP, which aims to help tropical countries with conservation and carbon accounting for these ecosystems.

Lilleskov and Randy Kolka, a research soil scientist and project leader with the Northern Research Station’s Northern Forest Science and Applications unit, lead a variety of SWAMP research and capacity building activities in South America and Indonesia. They also contributed to the development of the SWAMP Toolbox, a collection of strategies that help people understand the importance of wetlands as carbon reservoirs and their locations.

“Research in tropical and northern peatlands continues to underscore their importance as a greenhouse gas sink and their potential as a greenhouse gas source if not managed sustainably,” Lilleskov said. “Having SWAMP represented at COP26 is a reflection of the value it brings to tropical peatland conservation and the need to maintain healthy, functioning tropical peatlands to mitigate climate change.”