Dear Editor,
So a vast area of peatland has been found in central Congo. That is fascinating and it's sobering to ponder the amount of carbon it holds.
Here to the west of Cologne there is also a swathe of ancient peatland, home to the "Hambach Forest", an area of untouched woodland and high natural diversity.
The problem here is that this ancient peat is now in the form of lignite which is the next stage on the way to becoming coal. This means that companies are eager to burn it in a string of power-stations which line the massive open-cast mine there. Yes enormous diggers, the size of an office-block chomp away at the lignite, while plumes of vapour the size of clouds billow into the sky from the power-stations. It's like Mordor!
And the Hambach Forest will soon no longer exist.
The irony of this operation is that it is happening under the noses of both Brussels and the United Nations: Yes, the many plumes of vapour are clearly visible both from the UN Environmental HQ in Bonn and from the train and motorway between Cologne and Brussels.
So I wonder what will happen to the Congo Peatland now that it has been "discovered"?
Regards
