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.

• Three mobile paludiculture exhibitions were sent out to Baltic project partners in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania containing around 30 labelled exhibits and information materials on paludiculture production schemes. Contacts to product producers and providers were made available online. The outreach of the exhibitions exceeded the proposed dimension and exhibitions are continuously used for inspiring and connecting relevant stakeholders on peatland rewetting and paludiculture.
• An international paludiculture information tour with over 40 international stakeholders spanning from Ministries to farmers learned about chances, experiences, and best practices from paludiculture pilots in peatland rich German Federal States, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Lower Saxony. By cooperating with toMOORow project and LIFE projects the outreach was extended beyond the envisioned 36 Baltic participants to relevant stakeholders from Belgium, Hungary, Ireland, Poland, Slovak Republic, and the Netherlands. 
• Through connecting farmers, practitioners, and other relevant stakeholders in the Baltic countries, it was possible to facilitate various paludiculture exchange events and produce tailor made paludiculture training materials forming a base for future agricultural extension services on paludiculture in the Baltics. Moreover, a general guidance report on the development of remuneration schemes for carbon-farming and paludiculture had been compiled and handed to Baltic partners feeding into ongoing peatland strategic processes in the Baltic countries.