A project to restore and manage peatlands in Poland, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Ireland

Healthy peatlands matter! 

Peatlands are the largest natural terrestrial carbon store worldwide. However, damaged peatlands are a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. On a global scale, the EU is the second largest emitter of GHG from drained peatlands. Optimising the hydrological system of degraded peatlands to reduce GHG emissions and recovering optimal conditions to restart sequestering functions of the peatlands is how the project ‘LIFE Multi Peat’ plans to transfer an unfavourable situation into a favourable one. 

But what does the acronym ‘Multi Peat’ stand for? 

Multi-stakeholder Landscape and Technical Innovation leading to Peatland Ecosystem Restoration: This is the full name of the five-year LIFE project that aims to contribute to the goals of EU climate change mitigation policy through the restoration of peatlands in Poland, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Ireland.

The specific Multi Peat objectives are threefold:

The large-scale practical restoration of degraded peatlands leading to the cessation of significant GHG emissions in the project sites. This restoration will subsequently lead to the restoration of the carbon sink functions of these sites, as well as the improvement of knowledge on techniques and tools for measuring GHG emissions.

The development of a knowledge base and replicable techniques for halting further significant emissions from different classes of degraded peatlands and ultimately restoring their potential as carbon sinks.

The development of effective policy tools, such as a peatland policy toolkit that includes an EU-wide policy catalogue, data portal, and a policy development tool that brings together relevant information for policy makers, conservationists, other experts, and the general public in one place.