What are peatlands, and why are they essential for our planet?

What is a peatland?

Peatlands are part of wetland ecosystems characterised by the accumulation of partially decayed organic material, especially peat. As a result, peatlands have become carbon storage sites for thousands of years, making them true climate heroes. However, peatlands also offer people many other ecosystem services. Peatlands can help with flood protection, as they can store large quantities of water. They also filter and purify water, thereby improving water quality, providing a habitat for endangered species and serving as a place for recreation and cultural interaction with German history.

Why are peatlands so important?

Peatlands may only cover a small fraction of the Earth's surface, but their impact on climate change is immense. Healthy peatlands can mitigate climate change by storing vast amounts of carbon. However, when peatlands are degraded, they shift from being carbon sinks to becoming significant greenhouse gas emitters:  

• The world’s degraded peatlands account for 5% of global human greenhouse gas emissions each year,
• The world’s functioning peatlands are one of the largest soil carbon storages  (44% of soil carbon) and absorb 370,000,000 tons of CO2 annually.

Therefore, the restoration of peatlands is an important lever to mitigate climate change.

Besides their climate change mitigation potential, peatlands can also help to adapt to climate change. Peatlands act like natural sponges and can mitigate extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall. In particular, Sphagnum spp., a type of moss that lives in peatlands, has an enormous swelling capacity and can retain rainwater. Due to their water storage capacity, peatlands can also regulate the natural water balance. During dry periods, peatlands can cool down our landscape and slowly release the rainwater they have stored since the last rain.  

Peatlands in Germany

Most peatlands are located in the northern hemisphere, and Germany has 1.5 million hectares of peatland, corresponding to 4.2% of the German land mass. However, about 95% of German peatlands are now degraded, i.e., drained. Peatlands were and are still drained to extract peat as fuel and fertiliser or to use the soil for agriculture and forestry. The problem is that drained peatlands are turning from climate heroes to villains, responsible for around 7% of Germany's total greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, we must act now and restore Germany’s peatlands so they can become once more our climate heroes.

The six regions in Germany with the most peatlands are Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Bavaria, Schleswig-Holstein and Baden-Württemberg.  

How does a peatland function?

Peatlands consist of accumulated, incompletely decomposed organic material. This accumulation occurs due to the anaerobic conditions in peatlands, meaning there is no oxygen in the peat due to the continuous waterlogging and, in combination with an acidic pH, the organic matter (mostly peat moss) can only be decomposed very slowly. This means that the carbon that is incorporated in the cells of living plants is now stored in the peatland, and the peatlands, therefore, store carbon. The water of the peatland can either come from the ground (fen) or from precipitation (raised bog). The main characteristic of all types of peatlands is that the plant litter does not decompose quickly enough due to the constant waterlogging and, thus, accumulates.

If peatlands are drained, oxygen will enter the peat, and the decomposition process will be accelerated tremendously. The carbon previously stored in the peat is then released during the decomposition process, and climate heroes suddenly become climate villains. Degraded peatlands have a decomposition rate of 1 cm/year, while the peat build-up rate in a functioning peatland is 1 mm/year. In other words, a functioning peatland needs 10 years to build up the same peat layer that decays within a year in a degraded peatland. The decomposition rate is even faster if the peat is actively extracted or used for agricultural purposes. 

To reverse this process, it is now important to rewet drained peatlands in order to halt the decomposition process so that peatlands can once again perform their function as carbon storage.

How do we at EcoTree help to rewet the peatlands?

At EcoTree, we want to contribute to the restoration of these important ecosystems by rewetting peatlands across Europe. By doing so, we are helping to conserve biodiversity, create habitats for unique species and tackle environmental issues such as water pollution, flooding, and Carbon emissions. After a first successful start in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, we are developing other Peatland Restoration projects in the northern regions of Schleswig Holstein and Niedersachsen as well as in France, Denmark and Belgium.     

As we embark on this journey to revive European peatlands, we invite you to stay tuned for updates on the progress of this innovative and impactful biodiversity initiative and get in touch with us.

Contact us

Keep on reading! 

• Discover our peatland restoration project in Dahner Felsenlandschaft
• Learn more about wetlands and why they are vital for our planet
• Dive into the important benefits of healthy ecosystems
   

Sources used in the article: 

• Peatlands and climate change by IUCN
• Mooratlas: Daten und Fakten zu nassen Klimaschützern : ein Kooperationsprojekt von Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland und der Michael Succow Stiftung, Partner im Greifswald Moor Centrum (2023) by Dewitz, I., Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung
• Trockengelegte Moore: So viele Emissionen wie der gesamte deutsche Flugverkehr by Heinrich-Böll Stiftung 
• Klimaschutzfaktor Moore – CO2 binden statt freisetzen by Biooekonomie BW
• Peatland Geomorphology by M. Evans 
• Ökologische Funktionen by Bayerishes Artenschutzzentrum