In Belhaven, North Carolina, a 23-square-mile (60-square-kilometer) tract of land has drawn the attention of scientists and investors. The area contains spongy, dense peat up to 15 feet (5 meters) deep. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
The effort is underway to save the peatland from drying up or being destroyed.
Located in North Carolina’s Inner Banks, the region features fields of cotton, soybeans and corn stretching for miles, country roads winding through pine stands, and thousands of bird watchers who converge to witness the spring migration.
At sunrise, warblers, flycatchers, sparrows and towhees call across the treetops. Deer browse on tender buds, and black bears scrounge for roots and insects.
But it is what lies underground that has attracted attention: peat, which plays a vital role in carbon storage and climate change mitigation.
On May 6, 2026, Neal Flanagan, a research scientist at Duke University, used a tool to take a soil sample from the peatland as Curt Richardson, an ecology professor at Duke, observed in Belhaven, N.C. The research aims to assess the peatland’s condition and identify ways to restore it.
Peatlands are natural ecosystems that store carbon over long periods. If they dry out or burn, the stored carbon is released into the atmosphere, exacerbating climate change. Restoring this peatland is therefore important not only for local ecology but also for the global climate.