Peatlands in Central and Eastern Europe

The Nature Restoration Law sets binding targets to restore degraded ecosystems, particularly those with the greatest potential to capture and store carbon. Healthy peatlands are the most space-efficient long-term carbon stores in the terrestrial biosphere on our planet. They need to be acknowledged not only because of the unique biodiversity they support and the ecosystem services they provide, but also because of their contribution to achieving climate change mitigation goals at all levels.

In order to improve measures and funding for peatland management at the national level, these country overviews present the state of peatlands, greenhouse gas emissions from degraded peatlands, policy context and interesting facts from five countries: Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, and Poland. Recommendations are formulated to help put peatlands higher on the political agenda and to make peatland protection, restoration and sustainable management more effective and impactful in Central and Eastern European countries.