Paludiculture - Agriculture and Forestry on Rewetted Peatlands

Paludiculture (“palus“ – lat. “mire, morass”) is the productive use of wet peatlands. It includes traditional peatland cultivation (reed mowing, litter usage) and new approaches for utilization, for example, energy production using biomass from wet peatlands. Paludiculture includes the preservation of peat as a main objective. In many cases, even peat growth may occur, for example, in reed cultivation. While the above ground biomass is skimmed off, the underground biomass accumulates and new peat formation may take place.

Benefits of Paludiculture

The use of wet peatlands allows the re-establishment or maintenance of ecosystem services such as sequestration and carbon storage, water and nutrient retention, local climate cooling, and habitat provision for rare species. Paludiculture combines the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through peatland rewetting with the avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions by replacing use of fossil fuels and raw material.