02/06/2026 Just in time for International Peatlands Day, the official aftermovie for the 2025 International RRR Conference was released. A film featuring 350 participants, 84 presentations, and a common theme — the sustainable use of peatlands, also known as paludiculture.

The aftermovie on the international conference „RRR2025 - Renewable Resources from Wet and Rewetted Peatlands“ conference features voices from countries in Europe, Africa, and the U.S. that highlight varying levels of development and potential:

Lorna Parker from the United Kingdom discusses the experimental nature of the initiative there so far and the nascent cultivation of cattails in the Great Fen.

Leonard Akwany from Kenya sees paludiculture there as still in its infancy, but also recognizes its great potential for water and climate protection, as well as the advantage of being able to build on European experience.

Prof. Christian Fritz from the Netherlands emphasizes the strength of paludiculture in combining effective climate protection with economic use, as well as benefits for the water balance and the microclimate. He considers knowledge transfer, economic incentives, and cooperation among various stakeholder groups to be crucial for further implementation.

Prof. Harald Grethe from Germany estimates that the transition to large-scale rewetting and paludiculture will take between 15 and 25 years. He considers linking rewetting efforts to renewable energy and fostering intensive exchange between science and practice to be central to this process.

Orion Blake, a farmer from the U.S., shares his experiences with wetland farming in the Walkill River Valley. In light of land subsidence and increasing flooding, he sees paludiculture as a sustainable solution, but faces significant resistance. Yet through his own farm, he has been demonstrating for several years how such approaches can be implemented locally and practically.

From a niche concept to almost a trend—GMC Director Franziska Tanneberger provides insight into how paludiculture has developed over the past ten years and how it can best be scaled up in the future. In her view, the RRR conferences since 2013 have contributed to this by connecting stakeholders worldwide and fostering exchange.

Current national funding decisions, such as the Palu Guidelines, are giving the topic of paludiculture an additional boost. The RRR organizers, the Greifswald Mire Centre and the Thünen Institute, are therefore confident that they will once again bring together stakeholders from academia, the field, and politics in 2028 to share knowledge, strengthen networks, and jointly develop concrete approaches for rewetting and the productive wet land use of peatlands .

01/06/2026 Peatland based photovoltaic systems could lose their special status: the current draft bill for the EEG amendment proposes scrapping the preferential treatment afforded to PV on peatland installations. The Greifswald Moor Centrum believes this sends the wrong signal at the wrong time.
In a recent statement, the GMC points out that PV on peatlands creates an important incentive for the rewetting of peatlands. The combination of climate protection and renewable energy generation can help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from drained peatlands whilst opening up new economic prospects for land use.
If this preferential treatment is removed, rewetting projects could lose momentum. At the same time, there is a risk that photovoltaic systems will continue to be built on drained peatland soils, generating further climate-damaging emissions, whilst opportunities for climate, species and peatland conservation remain untapped. The GMC therefore advocates retaining peatland PV as a technology particularly worthy of support under the EEG.

The full statement on the draft EEG is also available online.

28/05/2026  Do you enjoy taking photos and sharing your pictures and thoughts on peatlands? Then we have just the thing for you here in the Ammerland district: the interactive photo project “Encounters with the Peatland” as part of the MOOSland project warmly invites you to capture the diversity of the peatlands in photographs and stories – with several events over three months.

Register by 7 June (via the following link: https://survey.academiccloud.de/f/757768?lang=de) for our kick-off event and become part of our exciting research project on a sustainable future for people and the peatlands.

The interactive photo project entitled “Encounters with the Peatland” is part of the MOOSland collaborative project. It explores what people in Ammerland associate with the peatland and where they encounter it. Over a period of two weeks, participants will capture their images of the peatland and then discuss them. Participation is free of charge.

18/05/2026  The Greifswald Moor Centrum has published a new series of policy briefs. Titled “2026 Policy Briefs: Rewetting drained peat soils supports climate neutrality”, the publications highlight how rewetting drained peat soils can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support national and European pathways towards climate neutrality.

The series includes an EU-level edition as well as country-specific versions for Germany, Belgium, Finland, Austria, and Poland. The policy briefs provide science-based and practice-oriented insights for policy and decision-making, illustrating how peatland rewetting as a nature-based climate solution can contribute to achieving climate goals.

The publications are aimed at policymakers, administrations, and practitioners and offer context-specific information tailored to different national settings.

Further information and access to the policy briefs are available online: GMC briefing papers