Grow peat protection in Manitoba

What’s a peatland?

Peatlands are an irreplaceable part of Manitoba’s climate defense system. 1/3 of Manitoba is made up of peatlands, the most carbon rich terrestrial ecosystem on Earth, storing even more carbon than forests. We have a responsibility to protect peatlands and keep this carbon locked away.

What do we need to do?

More than a decade ago we pushed the Manitoba government, NDP at the time, to ban new peat mines and preserve the peat bogs that we have. Despite passing The Peatland Stewardship Act, we've seen scant progress on saving these carbon-storing powerhouses in our province.

There are proposals for new peat mines in Manitoba, but the peat mine industry, which employs only a small number of people, is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the province. We need legislation that bans all new peat mines in Manitoba.

Points to consider

Feel free to use the points below in your message.
Don't forget to fill it in or a blank letter will be sent!

  • I want Manitoba to say no to all new peat mines. 
  • We are in a climate emergency, yet the government’s greenhouse gas emission reduction regulations are almost non-existent. No company is required to reduce their emissions in Manitoba. 
  • If the government enacted greenhouse gas reduction regulations peat mining would never be permitted. 
  • Manitoba’s International Institute for Sustainable Development released a government commissioned report in 2015 stating there is no way to mitigate the massive carbon release that occurs from peat mining. 
  • While Manitoba’s The Peatlands Stewardship Act of 2014 called for the designation of “provincially significant peatlands,” few have been established and there is no target or timeline to act.
  • The Manitoba NDP government passed The Peatlands Stewardship Act a decade ago, and they are now in power to act on it again. 
  • Manitoba must set a target and a timeline to designate and protect 66% of our peatlands. 
  • International scientific bodies like the IUCN and Project Drawdown have called for a goal of protecting 70% of peatlands by 2050.
     
Points to consider

Feel free to use the points below in your message.
Don't forget to fill it in or a blank letter will be sent!

  • I want Manitoba to say no to all new peat mines. 
  • We are in a climate emergency, yet the government’s greenhouse gas emission reduction regulations are almost non-existent. No company is required to reduce their emissions in Manitoba. 
  • If the government enacted greenhouse gas reduction regulations peat mining would never be permitted. 
  • Manitoba’s International Institute for Sustainable Development released a government commissioned report in 2015 stating there is no way to mitigate the massive carbon release that occurs from peat mining. 
  • While Manitoba’s The Peatlands Stewardship Act of 2014 called for the designation of “provincially significant peatlands,” few have been established and there is no target or timeline to act.
  • The Manitoba NDP government passed The Peatlands Stewardship Act a decade ago, and they are now in power to act on it again. 
  • Manitoba must set a target and a timeline to designate and protect 66% of our peatlands. 
  • International scientific bodies like the IUCN and Project Drawdown have called for a goal of protecting 70% of peatlands by 2050.