Tropical peatlands are the world’s most carbon dense ecosystems and their deforestation and degradation are important drivers of climate warming. Beyond climate regulation, peatlands support a broad range of ecosystem services valuable to rural peoples. In addition, these ecosystems - and the services they support - are particularly sensitive to disturbances and to changes in climate. Our understanding of how peatlands are distributed across tropical ecoregions and the types of ecosystems and climate spaces that support peat formation is rapidly evolving. New assessments of tropical peatland biogeography and classification, as well as the impacts of management and threats, are needed to support frameworks for conservation action. This session aims to foster interdisciplinary discussion in order to improve our understanding of tropical peatlands and the challenges surrounding their management and conservation. This session will include presentations that improve our understanding of 1) tropical peatland ecosystem ecology, including greenhouse gas emissions, carbon stocks and distributions; 2) tropical peatland floristics and classification; 3) assessments of how conservation threats (roads, plantations, drainage, fire) and management (protection, sustainable resource use, tenure recognition) impact tropical peatlands at local and regional scales. We will foster collaboration and integration among contributors by organizing a follow-up discussion session, to address the main knowledge gaps that remain, to explore possible avenues of funding, and to shape collectively the future direction of the field.