‘Carbon sink’ peatlands can be viably farmed - study

There is growing evidence that farming on wet peatlands – paludiculture - may be commercially viable as well as a significant contributor in the battle against climate change.

Peatlands store one third of global soil carbon, more than all the world's forests combined, and play a critical role in flood mitigation and wildfire prevention.

The €10m Horizon Europe project Palus Demos, which involves LJMU, is trialling large-scale paludiculture on farms in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Dr Stephanie Evers, Reader in Wetland Ecology and Biogeochemistry, at the university and co-author of a new study from the project consortium, said the farming method could be productive while maintaining important carbon, biodiversity and climate goals.

Evolving markets

Palus Demos, led by the University of Galway, has large-scale demonstration sites in Offaly, Manchester and the Netherlands, where partners are running multi‑year trials testing cultivation and harvesting approaches on peat, and co‑developing markets for produce.

Crops in the trials include sphagnum moss as a growing medium for the horticulture sector, typha reed as biomass for the construction and textile sectors and food crops such as berries and vegetables.

Paludiculture is heavily concentrated in Germany and the Netherlands, but even there it is small-scale. The latest review sets out a clear path to take paludiculture from small pilots to mainstream practice.

Project coordinator Niall Ó Brolcháin from the University of Galway, said: “This research is the work of 26 partners across Europe, including soil and climate scientists, farming practitioners and conservation bodies. It’s timely synthesis of the published knowledge on paludiculture at a time when we are under pressure to find and implement creative climate solutions that offer sustainable incomes from working farms.”

Flood mitigation

Dr Evers added: “For decades, peatland farmers have drained and battled with flood prone fields only to suffer crop yield losses due to peat subsidence and climate change-altered weather. This project is an opportunity to value these areas for what they are and create sustainable agriculture to reduce emissions and help farmers to grow an exciting range of food and non-food crops.”

But the authors add that without long‑term demonstration sites that follow crops over multiple harvests, alongside targeted investment in machinery and market development, paludiculture will remain a niche option.”

The paper, Transitioning from Degraded Peat to Paludiculture: Evidence-Based Roadmap for Research and Practice, published this month in the journal Land.