peatland

noun

peat·​land ˈpēt-ˌland 

plural peatlands

: land rich in peat (see peat entry 1 sense 1a)

For hundreds of years, dark brown peat from some of the most unspoiled peatlands in Scotland has provided the people … with their annual supply of fuel for heating and cooking.

—Alan Simpson

Peatlands have also come into sharp focus over the past 20 years because they are the largest and most concentrated global store of carbon of all terrestrial ecosystems, containing twice the carbon of the forest biomass.

—Anja Murray

Estates in the Highlands are often not fertile enough for profitable farming and the properties are large, making it easier to do tree-planting or peatland restoration that sequesters carbon at scale.

—The Economist

Examples of peatland in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

President Prabowo Subianto earlier said the ship would help fight forest and peatland fires that regularly blanket parts of Southeast Asia with hazardous haze. — ABC News, 24 Sep. 2026

In Southeast Asia, wildfires are torching forests and peatlands in Indonesia, sending up plumes of toxic haze. — Edna Tarigan, Arkansas Online, 23 Sep. 2026

Wildfires are ripping across parts of Indonesia, destroying precious peatland and smothering the country in a toxic smoke so thick, people are struggling to breathe. — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2026

Like many peatlands in the northern latitudes, the Glades developed as the last glacial period waned and the earth became warmer and wetter. — Literary Hub, 9 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1560, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for peatland

• wheatland