Industry & agribusiness

Rewet, regrow, reimagine –  profits from sustainable wetland farming

Sustainability is good for business. Paludiculture – the growth of commercial, profitable crops on rewetted bogs and fens – offers many sustainable investment opportunities for agribusiness. These lands absorb carbon and can help to reduce emissions. 

Palus Demos brings together researchers, farmers, policymakers and industry to explore these opportunities. We have three demonstration sites in Ireland, the UK and the Netherlands.

Our singular goal is to prepare wetland farming for market by offering proof of concept and showing that paludiculture can create profitable new products and industries. In the UK alone, Natural England – one of the partners on the Palus Demos project – has identified up to 88 native wetland species as promising for energy, food, fodder, medicinal use and raw material provision. 

Palus Demos is backed by funding from Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation framework for 2021-2027. 

Why agribusiness should invest in paludiculture

• Consumers are increasingly aware of their environmental footprint and want products that have minimal or positive impact on the environment
• In the EU, companies are obliged to report on how their activities impact on people and the environment
• Sustainable businesses are innovative businesses: improving efficiencies, operations, supply chains and limiting or eliminating carbon emissions 

Textiles 

Fast fashion is falling out of fashion. Consumers recognise the negative environmental impact of cheaply produced garments that:

• Consume high amounts of water
• Pollute rivers and streams
• Release half a million tons of microfibres into the ocean – the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles –  every year
• Are highly energy intensive
• Mostly end up in landfill 

Paludiculture offers an alternative for the textiles industry. A partner on the Palus Demos’ project, Ponda, is already proving the potential. 

Ponda is a biomaterials company developing new textiles from regenerative fibres. One of their products, BioPuff®, is a lightweight, warm and water repellent insulation. It is made by extracting fibres from typha, a plant that naturally grows on rewetted peatlands. 

Using typha as a textile:

• Reduces reliance on feathers and synthetic materials like polyester
• Allows a profitable crop to be grown on rewetted peatland
• Provides consumers with a sustainable textile alternative
• Protects precious peatland ecosystems while helping to reduce carbon emissions 

Food

Wetlands are suitable growing environments for several commercial food crops. 

These include:

• Berries: Blueberries, cranberries and bilberries thrive in the acidic and moist growing environment of rewetted peatland
• Sedge grains: Sedge is a grass-like species that colonises peatland and contributes to biodiversity, with seeds that can be easily harvested and digested and that are resistant to ergot fungus
• Sweet grass grains: Sweet grass is a hardy plant with uses in herbal medicine and alcohol distillation
• Celery, water pepper, watercress: These are among the vegetables that can be grown on rewetted peatlands. Watercress and celery are familiar plants for most of us, but water pepper is commonly used in Japanese and Chinese cuisines, as well as in both Indian and Chinese traditional medicine. 
• Dairy: Water buffalo naturally love wetlands. Their milk can be used to make buffalo mozzarella and other dairy products.

Construction

Sustainability is increasingly important in the construction industry. Regulation and demand are both driving a move towards passive, well-ventilated buildings, as well as retrofitting existing ones.

Paludiculture can play a vital role in helping the construction industry to become more sustainable. There are several useful crops that can thrive on rewetted peatlands. 

• Reeds: A familiar aquatic grass that can be used as roof thatch or can be formed into pressed pellets for a sustainable and regenerative form of home heating
• Grass fibre: Can be used to make furniture
• Bulrush: Also known as typha or cattail, this plant can be used for home insulation. It not only has a  load-bearing effect but is mould-resistant, making it ideal for damper climates such as those in northwestern Europe

Horticulture

Peat soil is the primary growing media for most crops used in horticulture and gardening. But this has a harmful effect on peatlands. 

When this peat is extracted, it is from drained bogland, each hectare of which emits six tonnes of CO2 per year. The biodiversity of this crucial land is also impacted by the extraction. 

Securing extraction licenses is also becoming more challenging. 

Sphagnum moss, which is grown on rewetted peatlands, show promise as an alternative. Trials have shown that this crop can be used as a growth medium, serving as a renewable and sustainable alternative to extracted peat. 

One of the partners on the Palus Demos project, Growing Media Ireland (GMI), represents the majority of horticultural peat and growing media producers in Ireland. While GMI advocates for sourcing peat as a growing medium, it is actively involved in pursuing alternative, complementary and sustainable methods.