Climate protection from moors | DW Documentary

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Peatlands bind more carbon than forests. But in Germany, almost all the country’s natural peatlands have been drained. Now, they’re emitting greenhouse gases. People around the world are currently working to rewet the moors - while keeping them usable for agriculture.

Dry peatlands are responsible for seven percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in Germany. Taken together, all the moorland areas in Germany cover over 1.5 million hectares. However, much of this moorland has given way to pasture and arable land over the centuries. Drained, the moors lose their ability to store greenhouse gases. In Germany alone, they could store about as much carbon as the entire German forest - but they must remain wet.

Scientists Greta Gaudig and Sabine Wichmann from the "Greifswald Moor Centrum” are working on a strategy to rewet the moors, while keeping them usable for agriculture. To accomplish this, they are testing the cultivation of peat mosses and cattails. These materials could be used to produce environmentally friendly potting soil and building materials. This way, farmers could continue generating income while saving the moors.

In Bristol, young entrepreneurs are producing a sustainable down substitute using cattails. With success: because the product is selling well, several farmers in England are converting their drained fields back to wet moorland for farming. For the first time, they have found a way to protect the moors and continue to make a living from their land.

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