• April 17, 2023

Preparing studies for Peatland Restoration in Belgium

A lot has been happening in the Valley of the Grote Beek over the past few weeks. Many different things have been examined and monitored. This allows us to determine the necessary measures to stabilise the water level much more precisely. For this, we got help from Bhuvan who did a voluntary internship with us to learn more about the practical side of peat restoration. The fieldwork consisted of various things like a ditch mapping, measurements of above-ground carbon stock, reading and calibrating the monitoring wells and vegetation monitoring.

A ditch mapping involves measuring each drainage ditch to know how much water is draining away from the area and how to stabilise it. Areas with seeps were also mapped, so we can use these natural upwellings of water to keep water levels stable and prevent summer droughts.

Above-ground carbon stock was calculated by measuring trees within a number of plots. With that info, we can calculate how much carbon is stored in the forest. Last year we already did the same for below-ground carbon stock when we mapped the peat layer. We found overall that there is more than twice as much carbon stored in peat soil per hectare compared to forest!!!

We are currently mapping plants, with a special focus on species bound to seeps. We can learn a lot from this to better understand the ecology of the valley. At the end of the project, this will be done again and so we can see what the impact of peat restoration is immediately after restoration.

Our internee Bhuvan in the Valley of the Grote Beek during measurements of above-ground carbon stock and collection of monitoring well data.