News
2024
Biodiversity - how to save it?
10 must-knows from the world of research
Good news: There are only six years left to achieve the biodiversity targets, but we can make it! We can do quite a lot to effectively conserve biodiversity at local, national and European level, on the ground as well as on in society and politics! 64 scientists have compiled their ideas in the new report of the Biodiversity Research Network, coordinated by the Leibniz Association. Peatlands are mentioned right at the top - thanks to Greifswald Mire Centre and the University of Greifswald ;) - as their conservation helps to combat both the climate crisis and species loss.
In fact, only a small part of global biodiversity is understood so far. The report therefore recommends to focus on ecosystems functioning rather than on individual species. Environmental measures can thus become more sustainable. The "10 must-knows from biodiversity research" provide facts for a German National Biodiversity Strategy 2030, which is currently being developed. This will enables the German government to implement the 23 global biodiversity targets agreed by the member states of the United Nations at the World Conference on Nature in December 2022.
25 years of paludiculture
#savethedate
07/03/2024 The word paludiculture was born 25 years ago. A "simple" word was needed for an entire concept: rewetting drained moorland to stop the release of greenhouse gases and ... to continue using it in a new, sustainable form of agriculture. It was made up of two Latin words: palus for swamp and cultura for cultivation. A lot has happened since then: Pioneers have tried out paludiculture, research projects have looked at various aspects from sowing to certificates, politicians are looking into it and companies are beginning to discover paludiculture as a market. This development will be celebrated at the anniversary celebration on June 10-11 (lunch to lunch) in Braunschweig. The PaludiZentrale project, jointly organized by the Thünen Institute, the University of Greifswald and the Succow Foundation, invites you to lectures, excursions and intensive networking. The aim is to create a large Paludi network from paludiculture initiatives and projects in Germany to exchange know-how and experience.
Salon: Caspar and peatlands
Landscape painted, but also recognized?
10/02/2024 "Meadows near Greifswald" is one of the most famous works by the painter Caspar David Friedrich. It shows Greifswald and will even be on display in his home town in this year of the romantic painter's 250th anniversary, only ... it does not show meadows. The view up to the town's silhouette falls on drained peatlands, then as today. In the salon series of the Caspar David Friedrich year, peatland professor Hans Joosten will talk about this discrepancy, about Adelbert von Chamisso's "Untersuchung eines Torfmoors bei Greifswald", published almost at the same time (1824), and about the relationship between man, nature and landscape. The salon evening on February 22 at 7 p.m. in Ellernholzstr. 1-3 is free of charge, but registration is required.
PaludiZentrale
Accompanying wet peatland use on the way to market
24/01/2024 The PaludiZentrale project bundles four recently launched model and demonstration projects (MuDs) for peatland protection and the utilization of biomass from rewetted areas for more economic paludiculture potential. Jointly managed by Thünen Institute Braunschweig and University of Greifswald, it coordinates and ensures uniform scientific data collection and knowledge exchange. It evaluates results of all aprticipating projects and develops suggestions for political and economic framework conditions as well as recommendations for action for implementation in practice. It also takes care of the transfer of knowledge. The researchers will accompany the new model and demonstration projects in raising the water level at least close to the surface on peatland areas and growing paludicultures (Latin palus: swamp, cultura: agriculture). Another task is to push the utilisation of peatland biomass towards practical use. The projects “Management and biomass utilization of wet fens in Brandenburg (WetNetBB)”, “Living Lab Teufelsmoor – climate and nature conservation-oriented wet management of peatland soils with innovative growth utilization in the Osterholz district (LivingLab Teufelsmoor)” and “Sustainable production and utilization of cattails on fen sites in Lower Saxony (RoNNi)” in Lower Saxony are concentrated on the cultivation of reed and cattail to be used e.g., in building materials or as energy source. The project “Sphagnum paludiculture as a sustainable agricultural use of raised bog soils (MOOSland)” is developing large-scale peat moss cultures for substituting peat.
Come to the construction site
Guided tour through peatland library for WWD
23/01/2024 To mark International Wetlands Day on February 2nd, “peatland pope” Prof. Hans Joosten is taking visitors - no, not into a peatland - but to the construction site, both analogue and online! To a building where inspiration will drip from the walls and tens of thousands of books in all genres and languages will be available on one topic: peatland. Renovation work is currently underway in the former lecture hall of the "Alte Chemie (Old chemistry)" at Greifswald, as this will be the new home of the Peatland and Nature Conservation International Library PeNCIL. With 50,000 publications, this special collection is an important part of the Greifswald Mire Centre and of international importance.
In 2024, boxes of books shall move into the listed hall and be accessible barrier-free in the high room with two galleries. Statics, financing, pollution issues - there were and still are many challenges to overcome on the way from the vision of a splendid peatland library to its realisation. Hans Joosten will guide visitors through the wing, which was built at the end of the 19th century, and tell them about its history, the complex mercury decontamination and the new peatland contents. If you can't be there on WWD, you can follow a "small library construction site tour" on the Greifswald Mire Centre Facebook and Instagram accounts that day.
On site, the meeting point is in the inner courtyard of Soldmannstrasse 16 (https://www.google.de/maps/@54.0923148,13.3655688,19z?entry=ttu). As the number of participants is limited, please register at bibliothek@greifswaldmoor.de.
Some more info on World Wetlands Day
World Wetlands Day (WWD) has drawn attention to the importance of wetlands, including peatlands, every year on February 2 since 1997. On February 2nd the Ramsar Convention, the international agreement for the protection of wetlands, was adopted in 1971. Since last year, it has been recognized as an international day by the United Nations.
Due to pollution, drainage and agriculture, fires and overfishing, wetlands, including peatlands, are under threat or have already been destroyed worldwide. Yet they are guarantors of biodiversity and climate protection. Among other things, they offer people protection from drought and flooding, purify water and regulate the microclimate. In Germany, 95 % of former peatlands have been drained and are no longer recognizable as such today.