https://reasonstobecheerful.world/turning-farmland-back-to-peatland/
"Until recently, Henning Voigt’s 500-hectare farmland along the Peene River,
near Germany’s northeastern Baltic Sea coast, was well-drained and used as a
cattle pasture. Not anymore. Driven by the urgency of climate action, Voigt
made a bold decision: to reverse the course of modern history.
For centuries, farmers across Europe, in the U.S. and elsewhere have
transformed peatlands like his into agricultural land by carving millions of
kilometers of canals and ditches to drain water from soil. These drainage
systems enabled them to grow crops and provide livestock with pasture. But in
addition to harming the rich natural plant and animal life in marshes and bogs,
this also came with a hidden cost: Once dried, peaty soils begin to break down
and release vast quantities of CO₂ — the leading contributor to global warming.
Studies estimate that drained peatlands are annually responsible for up to five
percent of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions globally, surpassing those of
the aviation industry.
Peatlands are found around the world where acidic soils and a high water table
prevent dead plants from fully decomposing. The resulting layers of compressed
plants are often many meters thick, up to 4.5 meters (more than 14 feet) in the
case of Henning Voigt’s land. “Whether in Europe, North America, Brazil, the
Congo Basin or Indonesia, preventing peat degradation is essential for humanity
if we are serious about achieving carbon neutrality by mid-century,” says
Franziska Tanneberger, a peatland scientist and director of the Greifswald Mire
Centre, a think tank jointly operated by the University of Greifswald, the
Succow Foundation and the Institute of Sustainable Development of Landscapes of
the Earth.
Tanneberger calls for swift action to stop peatlands from further drying up,
not just in Europe but worldwide. “Peatlands cover just three percent of
Earth’s land surface,“ she says, “yet they store more than 500 gigatons of
carbon, which is twice as much carbon as all the world’s forest biomass
combined.”
The European Union stands out as a global “drainage hotspot,” as 50 percent of
its peatlands have been converted to farmland, according to research published
in the journal
Diversity. The share is even higher in northern Germany, where
Voigt farms, at 92 percent.
As in many other regions, peatlands here are losing one centimeter or more of
topsoil annually. “Over the years, you can literally witness the land vanish,”
says Voigt, who is in his 30s and took over the farm from his father.
Scientists agree that the only way to halt this process — and the CO2 emissions
it produces — is to stop draining the land and allow the water table to rise to
about 10 centimeters (about four inches) below the surface.
Unlike other farmers, Voigt took action when he learned about the impacts of
drainage. In 2020, in a joint project with scientists from the nearby
University of Greifswald, he began turning a 10-hectare grazing plot into a new
type of cropland. He cleared the lush green grass, constructed a low dyke
around the area, and planted common reed and two species of cattail, or Typha,
native to peatlands. Then he let the groundwater return. In dry summer months,
he can moisten his plot using a solar-powered pump that pulls from an adjacent
river."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
