Letters / Good peatland is vital for carbon capture

I know that many people who object to Viking Energy erecting turbines and carving out the required infrastructure on Shetland’s peat bogs feel that that the peat restoration project is hypocritical.

New funding to accelerate peatland restoration programme

Indeed, I’ve also had concerns about the Viking Energy project because of its effect on the peat, its size and the lack of any meaningful community involvement.

Also, I’ve questioned the processes that have led to where we are today.

However, it seems strange to me that people would object to restoring peat in other areas. We need to encourage peat restoration so that it happens on the scale required to balance the loss caused by Viking Energy.

Good peatland is vital for carbon capture. Should we ignore all the areas of degraded peat because we disagree with Viking?

I would welcome serious debate on this as everyone’s view should be heard.

Debra Nicolson
Tresta