4. Aims and strategy

4.1 Aims

As stated in the Peatland ACTION five year partnership plan 2025 – 2030, Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS) will develop regular official statistics on Scotland’s peatlands, which will aim to provide a comprehensive, up-to-date source of basic information on peatlands in Scotland in a single place. This will include information on peatland extent, condition and restoration across Scotland

Official statistics must meet standards of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value from the Code of Practice for Statistics and must be politically impartial. Official statistics are also typically unique in that they normally relate to measurable quantities which are:

• Standardised
• Repeatable
• Available at a national scale

This means that these statistics won’t be a systematic review of any aspect of peatland science.

The central challenge with developing official statistics on Scotland’s peatlands is how we handle multiple data sources whilst providing meaningful figures to users. These figures can have extremely high uncertainties and sensitivities to assumptions. A 2025 review of the UK Statistical System emphasised the importance of intelligent transparency and communicating uncertainty.

We can look at other official statistics, such as Forestry Statistics 2025 - Forest Research, for inspiration and examples of good practice. Importantly, there are figures used in Forestry Statistics which provide important contextual information, but are considered ‘outside the scope of Accredited Official Statistics` - our peatland statistics may take a similar approach.

4.2 Development strategy

Our overall strategy for developing Official Statistics on Scotland’s peatlands can be summarised by the following nine principles:

1. User-centred development
2. Provide consistent and conventional headline figures
3. Communicate uncertainty and sensitivity
4. Provide context
5. Provide meaningful disaggregations of key figures
6. Improve the quality and accessibility of existing data, and present new insights.
7. Develop new data sources.
8. Avoid unnecessary duplication and signpost users to appropriate resources
9. Provide spatial data

1. User-centred development

• The scope of the statistics will reflect user priorities while considering production constraints, focusing on areas that deliver the greatest value efficiently.
• In the short-term, we will ensure that our core statistics are robust and reliable before expanding to include additional figures.
• We will actively seek and respond to user feedback to guide long-term development and ensure the statistics remain relevant and useful.
• We will determine a release frequency which balances user need and production constraints

2. Provide consistent and conventional headline figures

• Key figures will generally align with the most authoritative data sources and definitions, where possible (e.g. the UK GHG inventory).
• We will be precise in our use of terminology, so that users are clear what our figures refer to.

3. Communicate uncertainty and sensitivity

• Uncertainty will be presented quantitatively where possible or qualitatively if necessary. For instance, this may involve summarising figures from several data sources and presenting ranges.
• To show sensitivity, we will provide additional figures based on varying assumptions, for example, alternative peat depth thresholds.

4. Provide context

• Make meaningful comparisons, such as with other countries, sectors or time periods, to help users interpret figures in a broader context.
• Present figures in relation to policy targets, where relevant.

5. Provide meaningful disaggregations of key figures

• Geographic: potentially including for example, Local Authorities, National Park Authorities, Protected Areas, public land, and river catchments as user need dictates.
• Temporal: to provide a full time series where possible, and as a minimum to present changes compared with a suitable baseline.

6. Improve the quality and accessibility of existing data, and present new insights.

• Work closely with data providers and experts to improve data quality and methods, ensuring figures are consistent across Scottish Government and partner organisations.
• Make existing data easier to access and interpret, while presenting new insights.

7. Develop new data sources

• Highlight evidence gaps and prioritise development based on user needs and resource considerations.

8. Avoid unnecessary duplication and signpost users to appropriate resources

• Whilst an element of duplication is unavoidable, the majority of the content should offer unique value, either in terms of its presentation, quality, or the underlying data source.
• The content should focus on repeatable, standardised metrics, as befits an Official Statistics publication.
• It is beyond the scope of the statistics to cover all aspects of peatlands, and users will be signposted to suitable resources where relevant.
• When users are signposted to other resources, we will try to indicate their intended use and limitations.

9. Provide spatial data

• Where beneficial and not otherwise available, we will provide interactive resources to allow users to explore areas of greatest interest.
• Where not otherwise available, we will provide spatial data to download, subject to licensing constraints.

4.3 Development timeline

Following publication of this document in Spring 2026, we will actively seek feedback from potential users to ensure that we understand their needs. Release of the first edition as ‘official statistics in development’ will follow in late 2026 or early 2027.

The longer-term release frequency and timing of the official statistics are to be determined. An annual release, in early Autumn each year, is a candidate. This would provide some time for any corrections to early estimates of restoration activity from the preceding financial year, similar to the approach taken by Forestry Statistics.

4.4 Duplication and related work

As mentioned in principle eight of our development strategy, we will avoid unnecessary duplication and signpost users to appropriate resources for further information, when required. Some notable related projects and resources include:

• Peatland ACTION data portal app
• Peatland ACTION - Monitoring strategy
• Outputs from the Strategic Research Programme 2022 to 2027 - Environment, natural resources and agriculture including CentrePeat and Land Use Transformations, and future research programs
• Plans for a national peatland monitoring framework
• Greenhouse gas emissions reports from the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory
• Peatland Code project information available on the publicly available UK Land Carbon Registry
• Peatland ACTION - Scotland's Peatland Standard | NatureScot
• Restoration hub | UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology