wise use of mires and peatlands - Peatland Ecology Research Group

136 FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USEthese objectives. An essential part of amanagement system is that it be audited,preferably by an external certifying authority.An example of an internationally acceptedstandard for environment managementsystems is the ISO 14001 standard. Smallerenterprises may not have the resources toaspire to a full international standard, but canimplement simple but effective systems.(4) Rehabilitation of degraded peatland: Itis the responsibility of the exploitingenterprise to ensure the implementation ofthe type of after-use which was made alicensing condition. The appropriate form ofrehabilitation should be planned in advance.The restoration of peatlands to peataccumulatingecosystems has beenundertaken in, among others, Germany 53 ,Belarus 54 , Finland 55 , Canada 56 and theU.S.A 57 . In Finland 58 and Ireland 59 , large areasof peatlands from which peat has beenextracted for energy use are suitable foragriculture and forestry. In Ireland 60 andFinland 61 wetlands have been formed fromcutaway peatland creating habitats for avariety of vegetation and wildlife. Areas ofcutaway peatland have also been allowed tore-vegetate naturally 62 .In rehabilitating degraded peatland attentionshould be paid to the whole scale of potentialmire and peatland functions and values,including among others (i) restoring or recreatinghabitats, (ii) the effects on the carbonbalance and (iii) the effects on local hydrologyof the chosen after-use.(5) Education and Awareness: Theresponsibility to provide education andawareness programmes lies not only at thenational level, but also at the level of theenterprise, in accordance with the scale ofthe enterprise.(6) Technology Improvement: Enterprisesextracting or using peat can avail oftechnology improvements to reduceemissions of all kinds. Manufacturing andcombustion technologies improve all the time,and the use of these technologies, forexample, in briquette factories and powergeneration units, can greatly improveenvironmental performance. Similarly,agriculture and forestry can optimise therelationship between maximum productivityand minimum negative environmental sideeffectsby adapting land management,drainage and fertilisation intensities,frequencies, and techniques.(7) Product diversification: Enterprisesextracting peat for use as a soil improver ormanufacturing peat-based growing media canalso use their expertise to manufacturegrowing media containing alternativematerials (see Table 3/6) such as green waste,coir and bark.(8) Alternative energy: Peat extractioncompanies often have access to large areasof land, particularly cutaway, which could beused for alternative energies such as thegrowing of biomass or the establishment ofwind farms.(9) Codes of conduct: Codes of conduct aredealt with at 5.7 below. They are can be usedas instruments at the level of the enterpriseto ensure compliance with the Framework.5.6.6 Instruments at the level of theindividual person(1) Civic responsibility: It is in no singleindividual’s immediate interest to moderatehis or her consumption or behaviour.However where, through internationalagreement or national policies or legislation,norms of behaviour are establishedindividuals should exercise civicresponsibility in abiding by these norms. Evenwhen such laws and agreements have notbeen established every individual has to takeresponsibility for the results of his or heractions 63 .