Don’t Beat Around the Peat

Author: Hannah Poultney | Date: July 07, 2025

With the capacity to sequester more carbon than forests, peatlands are essential allies in tackling climate change. Yet, preserving and restoring these ecosystems demands more than isolated efforts. It requires collaboration — from the local to the national to the regional. It requires policies with staying power — no small feat to preserve peat in an era marked by political volatility. It requires attention to the individual, as cultural values tied to land ownership — alongside a fear of change — are common in hindering restoration.

Still, solutions are within reach, as highlighted during the final workshop of the Building the European Peatlands Initiative project, funded by the European Climate Initiative (EUKI). Entitled "Conservation of Peatlands: Policies, funds and field experiences," the workshop was held both online and on-site on 27-28 May 2025 at the Ócsa Landscape Protection Area — part of Hungary’s Danube-Ipoly National Park — and brought together stakeholders across Europe to share strategies and experiences.

 

The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts

One key theme emerged strongly during the event: peatland restoration is not possible without inclusive, participatory policymaking.

Jan Peters (Michael Succow Foundation – Partner in the Greifswald Mire Centre) emphasized the importance of engaging a wide range of stakeholders, from landowners to conservationists to decision-makers. Marie Lorenz echoed his colleague's call for pluralism, advocating for policies that reflect diverse perspectives, including those expressed through culture and art.

In Austria, as Christian Schrök (LIFE AMooRe project) noted, personal values related to the land and the fear of change can be significant barriers to ensuring a viable path for peatland restoration. To address these barriers, Leonor Cesar des Neves (ELO) stressed the need for economic viability in preservation and restoration efforts. As such, she recommended the Peatland Forestry, Farming, and Restoration on private land Manuals, which help farmers navigate the balance between land use and conservation.

For instance, a promising approach to achieve said balance is paludiculture — in which wetland-adapted species such as reeds or cranberries are cultivated, preventing the need for land drainage. In Germany, the PaludiZentrale project already demonstrates market potential for such products.

Innovation requires challenging existing assumptions and introducing new ideas — a process enriched by diverse experiences and wider participation in peatland policy.

 

Continuity for Long-Term Impact

Jan Peters further underscored another major challenge: how to ensure that policies endure — and survive. Given the long timelines involved in peatland restoration, continuity is crucial. Therefore, the engagement and inclusion of younger generations is critical, as well as decisions considering long-term consequences, while also recognising and accounting for research gaps.

For example, Laiho Raija from Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) pointed out that while short-term rewetting impacts have been quantified, key data gaps remain, including data on water levels in undrained peatlands. Without this, there should be a degree of caution in peatland management.

The failure to consider consequences in the past contributed to peatland drainage, underscoring the importance of this focus. This thinking demands alignment across borders and sectors, which highlights the final theme discussed during the workshop: coordination.

 

Strengthening Coordination Across Borders

To illustrate the significant variation in peatland policy approaches across Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, Eliza Óhegyi (CEEweb for Biodiversity) presented a current overview of national frameworks and best practices, revealing stark differences in definitions, priorities, and implementation.

In this context, Moritz Kaiser (Michael Succow Foundation – Partner in the Greifswald Mire Centre) emphasized that legal discrepancies and limited collaboration still hinder mutual learning and progress. In other words, even terminology can create barriers: how countries define “mires” versus “peat soils” affects how policies are shaped and compared throughout CEE — and beyond.

Moreover, coordination should not overlook the diversity of peatland ecosystems. As Raija noted, in nutrient-rich forested peatlands like those in Finland, rewetting may not be effective; instead, selective cutting could offer a better management alternative.

 

Towards a Shared Strategy

All considered, the path forward requires a shared strategy. The EUKI Building the European Peatlands Initiative project aims to bridge these gaps by building a pan-European network of stakeholders — from policymakers and scientists to farmers and landowners.

The road ahead involves tailoring action to national contexts while keeping climate targets in focus. CEEweb has previously summarised some recommendations for policy and decision-making on the integration of peatlands into climate policies. Developing national peatland strategies — particularly in Central and Eastern Europe — could be a strong first step; learning from the findings and conclusions of the workshop (see the downloadable presentations at the bottom), another one.

Integrating peatland restoration into climate adaptation and mitigation frameworks will require steady funding, multi-stakeholder cooperation, and an honest reckoning with past failed practices and approaches. But as this workshop made clear, the tools and insights are already at hand. These are the results of a project that kicked off in November 2022 and has now come to an end; let's now share its fruits to help preserve the peatlands we have tirelessly worked on protecting and restoring.