Baltic Peatland Farmers Capturing Carbon

Baltic countries are rich in peatlands. Conventional agriculture drains and degrades peatlands and turns them into constant CO2 sources that boost climate change. Peatland rewetting and wet management stops emissions and enables paludiculture, the carbon-neutral agricultural use of peatland. Large-scale implementation of peatland rewetting and paludiculture in the Baltics could reduce CO2 emissions by five to ten megatonnes annually. To implement wet peatland management, farmers need support and training, as practical experience is a key prerequisite besides enabling climate and agricultural policies.

The project team conducted several activities which all aimed to increase the application of paludiculture in the Baltics, thus contributing significantly to the reduction of CO2 emissions in the region.

The team cooperated with agricultural advisory services in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. With them, it conducted “training for trainers” events, where they shared knowledge on climate-friendly peatland management. In turn, representatives of the advisory services consulted the project members on designing the training programme “Paludiculture & Carbon Farmers”. After completing the “training for trainers”, the participants consulted interested Baltic land users on the potential of paludiculture.

Additionally, the project team aimed to raise public awareness of the approach. It therefore informed the rural population about the many possible uses and the wide range of climate and environmentally friendly agricultural products from paludiculture, for example through mobile paludiculture exhibitions along roads, at trade fairs, festivals and markets, as well as through online promotional videos aimed at a wider target audience.

In parallel, the project built on a previously initiated Baltic paludiculture dialogue which connects representatives from various groups such as farmers, ministers, and teams from paludiculture pilot projects. They were invited to share their practical experience in a Pan-Baltic paludiculture and carbon farming network. Network representatives approached policy makers on Baltic and EU level with concise proposals on policy adaptation, aiming for climate and agricultural policies that support future paludiculture farmers. If policy frameworks allow to implement wet peatland management on a profitable basis, land users are expected to be more likely to consider this approach.

• Mobile exhibitions strengthen knowledge and networking on paludiculture: Three mobile paludiculture exhibitions were sent to the project partners in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and contained around 30 exhibits and information material on paludiculture production systems. In addition, contacts to producers and suppliers were made available online. The reach of the exhibitions clearly exceeded the original expectations. They continue to be actively used and help to inform, inspire and network people interested in the topic of peatland rewetting and paludiculture. 
• International information tour increases reach and knowledge transfer: An international paludiculture information tour with over 40 participants from ministries, agriculture and other specialist areas demonstrated the opportunities and best practices from pilot projects in the peatland-rich federal states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Lower Saxony. Thanks to the cooperation with the toMOORow project and various LIFE projects, the tour was able to reach far more key actors from Belgium, Hungary, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia and the Netherlands than the 36 participants from the Baltic states as originally planned. The project thus achieved a significantly greater professional reach and enhanced international transfer of knowledge on paludiculture. 
• Exchange and practical materials promote paludiculture in the Baltic countries: By networking farmers, practitioners and other relevant parties, the project was able to organise numerous exchange events on paludiculture. In addition, customised training materials were created, which will serve as a basis for agricultural advisory services in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the future. In addition, general guidelines on the development of remuneration systems for carbon management and paludiculture were drawn up and presented to the Baltic partners. In this way, the project results flow directly into strategic processes for peatlands and support the introduction of climate-friendly management models in the long term.