Rural Payments and Services

In 2025, we started introducing new rules will apply to agricultural payments in Scotland.

This included new protections for peatlands and wetlands.

If you have peatlands or wetlands on your farm or croft, you should make sure you know how the rules apply to you.

Peatlands and wetlands play an important role in slowing down climate change. That is why we have prohibited activities that could damage them.

When peatlands are in good condition, they store greenhouse gases. However, when they are damaged, they can release those gases into the atmosphere.

Healthy peatlands don’t just store carbon. They also:

• help biodiversity by providing a habitat for plants and insects
• regulate water flows and prevent flooding

Scotland has around 2 million hectares of peatland. However, only a quarter of this is in good condition.

On 1 January 2025, new conditions were added to GAEC 6: Maintenance of soil organic matter.

If you have peatlands or wetlands, you can no longer do certain things on those areas. The prohibited activities include:

You can still carry out the prohibited activities if they are part of a peatland restoration project, the installation or maintenance of wind turbines or permitted development rights. You may also be able to get written consent from Scottish Ministers or another statutory body.

Cutting peat for domestic use is not considered a damaging activity.

The first step is to identify if you have protected areas. We have added a Peatland Areas mapping layer to the Land Parcel Identification System as a guide to help you find out if you have any peatland within your farm or croft.

You can also read the Cross Compliance scheme guidance, which will help you to comply with the conditions.

If you have any questions and would like to speak to someone, you can contact your local area office.