FILE - Firefighters spray water to put out wildfires burning through peatland forest in Kubu Raya, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana, File)
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FILE - A firefighter sprays water in an attempt to extinguish a wildfire burning through a peatland forest in Pulang Pisau, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Regina Safri, File)
A planter, right, works in a field adjacent to a peatland forest Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Belhaven, N.C. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
A fire-damaged tree stands in an area of peatland Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Belhaven, N.C. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Scientists and investors are restoring a 23-square-mile tract of peatland in North Carolina to help curb climate-warming emissions and restore native habitat. Ditches have drained water from thousands of years of accumulated peat, leaving the site vulnerable to drought and wildfire and unleashing huge volumes of carbon dioxide. One-third of global carbon is stored in saturated peatlands, more than all forests combined. But that reverses when peatlands are damaged. Pantheon Regeneration plans to restore the water table to curb emissions, then sell carbon credits to help fund its goal of preserving a million acres of peatland from Virginia to Florida.
Neal Flanagan, right, a research scientist at Duke University, uses a tool to take a soil sample from a peatland as Curt Richardson, an ecology professor at Duke, observes Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Belhaven, N.C. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Curtis Richardson, an ecology professor at Duke University, holds peat soil Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Belhaven, N.C. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
A juvenile black bear walks through a clearing where peatlands are being restored Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Belhaven, N.C. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
A beaver swims in a creek at the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Belhaven, N.C. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Neal Flanagan, a research scientist at Duke University, carries soil sampling tools Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Belhaven, N.C. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)