Irish peatscapes: from heritage to hybrid in the Capitalocene
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: This paper outlines the concept of ‘peatscapes’: hybrid assemblages of human and more-than-human, formed from past exploitation, present policies, identities and perceptions, and future plans for Irish peatlands. Following centuries of drainage and peat extraction, peatlands are now targeted for rehabilitation/restoration for biodiversity and ‘ecosystem services’, including net carbon sequestration. However, there are significant economic and cultural consequences for communities long reliant on the peat extraction industry, despite new policies to permit a ‘Just Transition’. Bound up in these issues are the various hybrid elements of the peatscape: artefacts of the peat industry, new digital and ‘green energy’ infrastructure, novel ecosystems and archaeological remains largely destroyed through peat extraction. We reflect on the tensions and contradictions intrinsic to the peatscape as a ‘wicked problem’, with no straightforward solutions. Finally, we suggest that articulations of the peatscape framed through concepts of ecocultural value, might be one way to approach reconciliation.
Source: Landscape Research
Authors: Claire Nolan, Benjamin Gearey, Rosie Everett
Institutions: University College Cork, Scotland's Rural College
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Irish Research Council
OpenAlex ID: W4404861920