Peatlands drained for farming create an estimated 4-5% of global human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.
Rewetting these soils cuts emissions and improves biodiversity, but it takes valuable land out of production.
There is a third way. Paludiculture – growing crops on wet or rewetted peatlands – can preserve peat and generate an income for landowners. Crops such as typha reed and sphagnum have commercial use in biofuel, construction and growing media. Some food crops, such as berries, can also be cultivated in wet or rewetted peatlands.
Now, a team of expert Palus Demos researchers, spanning the UK, Netherlands, Ireland, Germany and Austria, have published a comprehensive and seminal academic study in the journal Land. The paper, led by UCD postdoctoral researcher Dr Lisa Jessen and designed alongside senior author Dr Florence Renou-Wilson (pictured, above), asks: what solid scientific evidence already supports paludiculture, and what still needs to be learned before it can be widely adopted? The review takes stock of current paludiculture research and spans not just Europe but also North American and Asia.
The team reviewed 455 sources including peer-reviewed scientific studies, grey literature (such as project reports), and a survey of researchers, farmers, land managers and other stakeholders connected to the Palus Demos project and related Horizon Europe projects. The Palus Demos team organised the evidence into themes — soil, water, crops, techniques, management, greenhouse gases, biodiversity and technology — and identified both what is well understood and where major gaps remain.
As part of the research, the team has produced a downloadable database of information sources relevant to paludiculture activities in temperate peatlands.
There are encouraging results, but a clear need for more research, evidence and policy support. Paludiculture has been shown to reduce or reverse the peat soil subsidence (one Dutch site achieved land gain of 70–90 mm per year), to preserve carbon stocks under threat from continued drainage, and to support more biodiversity than conventional drained peat soils agriculture, though not as much as untouched, near-natural peatland.
The authors highlight significant gaps. There are very few studies that follow a crop from planting through several years of harvests, and most work comes from small pilot sites. The evidence base is heavily concentrated in Germany and the Netherlands, so results cannot simply be transferred to other regions and peatland types. Practical barriers include the need for specialised low‑impact harvesting equipment for peat soils and the development of functional markets and supply chains for paludiculture products.
These are precisely the gaps Palus Demos is designed to address, through multi‑year field trials from planting to repeated harvests on three large scale paludiculture sites, examining low‑impact harvesting on peat and developing markets with industry partners.
As well as providing an overview of paludiculture research, the paper is highly practical.
The authors outline current knowledge about soil, water, crops, paludiculture techniques, management, carbon & climate, biodiversity and technology – as well as practical recommendations for farmers, researchers and land managers and suggestions for future research.
The report also features an outline of 11 techniques to transition from dry to wet agriculture on peat soils and how to monitor the crops. This includes starting with proper site investigation before any rewetting begins, followed by parallel long-term monitoring of soil, water, greenhouse gases and biodiversity, continued investment in harvesting technology and policy frameworks that address regulatory permitting as well as financial incentives.
The authors are clear: paludiculture shows real promise. But it needs more long-term field data through repeated harvest cycles, suitable machinery, policy support and sustainable markets. Palus Demos is already building all of this. The next step is for policymakers and funders to turn these pilots into a supported, scalable land‑use model across Europe.
- Read the full paper, Transitioning from Degraded Peat to Paludiculture: Evidence-Based Roadmap for Research and Practice, in the journal Land.