Ecology

Peat consists of dead organic matter accumulated over thousands of years. Since centuries, peat soils have been exploited to obtain fuel or raw material for growing media. Peat extraction and use is harmful to the environment. Sustainable alternatives will only prevail if politicians act.

Humans have drained peatlands for centuries to provide land for farming and settlement. History may help us recognize the fallacies of supposed improvement, remember the presence of destroyed and often invisible peatlands in our landscapes, and advocate for the protection and restoration of peatlands.

Peatlands all over the world sustain a rich range of habitats and species, including a wide range of threatened and endemic ones. Policymakers are called upon to protect these unique landscapes.

Because they take up greenhouse gases, peatlands cool the climate – but only as long as they are intact. But these peat-covered areas have been – and still are being – drained for agriculture, forestry, peat extraction and human settlement, exacerbating global warming.

Peatlands and other types of wetlands foster biodiversity and protect humans and nature from drought and flooding. But they are some of the most threatened ecosystems on the planet. Current efforts to conserve them have so far proven inadequate.

Peatlands exist in the mountains, in lowlands, along rivers and at the coast. Their vegetation and condition vary from one climate zone to another, but all types of peatland have one thing in common: their continued existence is in danger.

Huge areas of peatland around the world have already been destroyed. In the tropics, peat swamp forests are being cut down and the land drained. Fires and climate crisis also pose threats. Attempts to protect the peatlands have so far had little success.

Peatlands form in places where the ground is constantly wet. They are rich in species and can store carbon to help protect the climate.

Mires are intact peatlands and home to rare plants, rare animals – and enormous amounts of carbon. But draining them for economic reasons puts them and their resident organisms at massive risk. It poses a massive threat to the climate too.

Peatlands are a mixture of elements: they are both water and land at the same time. They form where the soil is wet all year round. Waterlogging prevents dead plant material from decomposing, creating their characteristic organic soils over thousands of years. And peatlands can be found all over the world, from the Arctic to Europe and the tropics, all the way to Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America. They are impressive ecosystems, rich in rare animal and plant species. Their peat soils store enormous amounts of carbon, so they play a decisive role in climate protection – as long as they stay wet.