CINDERELLA: Progressing paludicultures after

centuries of peatland destruction and neglect

Hans Joosten, Greifswald University

joosten@uni-greifswald.de

In living peatlands: • Production is larger than decay • Dead plants accumulate as peat

Kolkheti, Georgia

Peat accumulates through water saturation: Natural peatlands are wetlands!

Scotland

Lesotho

Peat accumulates during thousands of years and stores concentrated carbon in thick layers

Peat of 2 m deep

Very important but not appreciated: the Cinderella Syndrom

Ruoergai, China

Peatlands are the most effective carbon stores of all terrestrial ecosystems

Kyrgystan

While covering only 3% of the World’s land area, peatlands contain 500 Gt of carbon in their peat.

Germany

Germany

i.e. twice the carbon stock of the world’s total forest biomass

Problem: Our arable farming had a semi desert as a cradle…

…and has since the idea that productive land must be dry…

Qatar

…and soils continuously be moved…

Qatar

…illusions that we worldwide apply to wet, organic soils…

Greta Gaudig Germany

… with African desert plants on drained peat: Aloe vera…

Bostang Radjagukguk Kalimantan

Germany

… or semi-arid Maize on drained peat…

Palm oil can grow and produce well on peat … or with oil palm on drained peat…

Marcel Silvius Malaysia

…peatland use with problems that we start to see only now...

Sabine Wichmann Germany

…that often does not even allow harvest…

Jilin, China

… a land use that has desertified millions of hectares…

Ukraine

…and in continental areas creates soils like made of stone…

Ukraine

Mobilisation of the carbon stock by peatland agriculture and forestry leads to huge emisisons

Norway

Clear relation between mean water level and annual emissions (CO2, CH4 and N2O)

Deeply drained grassland on peat in Germany emits 29 T CO2-eq ha-1a-1 = 145.000 km with middle class car

A potato field on peat in Germany emits 37 T CO2-eq ha-1a-1 = 185.000 km: every hectare, every year

Bavaria, Germany

Potatoes from peat are fossil resources…

Forests on drained peat generally loose more peat carbon than the trees sequester…

Jilin, China

Wood from peat is fossil …

Agricultural peatlands in Germany emit almost twice as much CO2 as Jähnswalde, the World’s 7th most dirty power station

Jähnswalde

Globally, degraded peatlands emit 2 Gigatonnes CO2 a-1

CO2 emission

Drained peatlands on 0.3% of the land emit 5% of all anthropogenic CO2

Indonesia leads the list of global top emitters…

The EU is a good second…

Denmark

In Germany peatland agriculture causes annually a climate damage of € 3 billion, and gets 300 million EU-grants (CC)

Sabine Wichmann

Per joule energy „biogas“ from mays from peat causes 8x more climate damage than burning lignite…

… and that with subventions under Renewable Energy Law

The ‘polluter pays’ principle is put on the

head:

We pay peatland agriculture for causing

massive climate damage

… and frustrate in this way sensible solutions

Drainage

Mineralisation & emission of N, P

GHG-emissions

Compaction

Peat oxidation

Loss of peat

Safety risks

Climate change

Moorsackung

Loss of peat landscape

Conflicts between functions

Desiccation of nature

Eutrophication of protected areas

Deteriorating water quality

Increasing drainage costs

Van de Riet et al. 2014

Climate damage is merely one of the societal damages …

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Peatland drainage causes even greater problems: subsidence!

1939

2013

Netherlands

drainage wetting

wet peatland

subsidence

… the “devil’s cycle” of peatland utilisation…

Bavaria: 3 m loss since 1836 UK: 4 m loss since 1870

Drainage subsidence (loss of height): 1 -2 cm annually

former land surface

Nether-lands …Nether-lands: bogged down: 1000 yr of peatland drainage,

now half the country deep under sea level…

Nether-lands …Nether-lands: bogged down: 1000 yr of peatland drainage,

now half the country deep under sea level…

In tropics

subsidence 5 times faster!

In NE-Germany, ten thousands of hectares have already been flooded as they could not be drained anymore economically

Germany

Many tropical peatlands are coastal and will - with continuous drainage and >2000 mm of rainfall - become undrainable …

The ‘ wave’ in oil palm plantations showing subsidence

Sabah

Oil palm plantation on coastal peatland will – in the near future - lead to the loss of substantial tracts of land

Aljosja Hooijer Sumatra

Whereas the sea level rises, we bog the peatlands down….

sackende Mooroberfläche

We are loosing land, now that we need it most: for more people, for less poverty and for replacing fossil resources

Kalimantan

flooding

salt intrusion

drainage subsidence

food security

acid sulphate soils

ghg emissions

fire

haze

fodder

land loss

fuel

fiber

biodiversity loss

productivity

That thing with the

Three gears cannot work.

Can it, daddy?

No girl, It can‘t…

Drained peatland use destroys its own subsistence base

corn (Zea mays) or intensive grassland on peatland

Photo: Gaudig

No Go!

If you need to use them, use them wet: paludicultures!

Poland

Arable use, drainage based utilization, peat extract

rewetting

0

20

40

60

-100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20

Alder

Reed, Sedges, Cattail

Reed Canary Grass

Low intensity utilization

Nature protected grasslands

Emissions-

reduction

-120 40

Water table [cm] (medium)

t C

O2-e

qu

. ha-1

a-1

(GW

P 1

00

)

Paludiculture

Uti

lizat

ion

Use of peatlands and GHG emissions

Low intensity

utilization of

peatlands

Drainage

based

peatland

utilization

after Jurasinski et al. in Wichtmann, W., Schröder, C. & H. Joosten (Editors) in prep.

Emission reduction by peatland rewetting (incl. CO2, CH4, N2O + DOC) after IPCC 2014)

Initial drained land

use

Emission reduction after rewetting

(t CO2-e ha-1 yr-1)

Temperate zone Boreal zone

Forest Land 6 2

Cropland 28 34

Grassland 20 25

Peat extraction sites 9 11

New concept Paludiculture*

• Cultivation of biomass on wet and rewetted peatlands

bog: peat moss

fen: common reed, reed canary grass, sedges, alder, ...

• Utilisation of biomass for industry and energy

peat conservation

reducing GHG emissions

replacing fossil resources

*„palus“ – lat.: swamp

Foto: W. Wichtmann

Reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacia)

productivity: 3.5 – 15 t DM/ha*a

emissions: 12 t CO2eq/ha*a

Common Reed (Phragmites australis)

productivity: 3 – >25 t DM/ha*a

emissions: 10 t CO2eq/ha*a

Cattail (Typha spec.)

Productivity : 5 - 22 t DM/ha*a

Emissions: 10 - 15 t CO2eq/ha*a

Utilization of biomass from paludiculture

• Industrial use

• Energetic use

Harvesting

Ratrak mowing device with trailer

(Picture: L. Lachmann)

Caterpillar mounted mowing and baling

device (Picture: S. Wichmann)

Seiga based field chopper

(Picture: W. Wichtmann) Pisten-Bully with trailer

(Picture: W. Wichtmann)

CINDERELLA

Comparative analysis, INtegration anD ExemplaRy implEmentation of cLimate smart LAnd use practices on organic soils: Progressing paludicultures after centuries of

peatland destruction and neglect

CINDERELLA

Foto: S. Wichmann Foto: C. Schröder Foto: C. Schröder Foto: S. Wichmann

CINDERELLA Paludiculture

General aim of CINDERELLA

• to extend the scientific base for a sustainable use of wetlands and to make alternative uses accessible to farmers and land authorities. – give an overview on productive species, provenances and breeds;

– quantify GHG fluxes, C sequestration and nutrient retention as a basis for the assessment of ecosystem services;

– assess economic characteristics regarding ecosystem services;

– promote the exchange of scientific and technical knowledge;

– stimulate the cooperation among partners (countries and regions, private and public stakeholders);

– optimize synergies between regional climate change mitigation and adaptation;

– contribute to the necessary transformation of drainage-based peatland agriculture by best practice and stimulating acceptance.

Partner Role Responsibilities Specific contributions

University of

Greifswald

(GER)

General project

coordination

Micro- and macro-

economic assessments

Outreach and

dissemination of

project results

Ensurance of overall project

performance

Coordination of individual

research contributions

Economic monitoring and analysis

of land use concepts

Socio-economic aspects of CSA on

peatland

Biomass utilisation

Comprehensive knowledge on

paludicultures

Peatland library and databases

Expertise in economic, LCA and

sustainability assessment

Extensive network of national

and international stakeholders

Aarhus

University

(DK)

Provision of bio-

genetic expertise

Applied genetics of Reed

Selection of varieties for different

applications

Interaction of nutrient, soil and

water systems

Knowledge transfer

Expertise in selection of

genotypes of (mainly) Common

Reed, Cattail and Giant Reed

Halmstad

University (S)

Coordination of

studies on nutrient

retention

Nutrient fluxes in constructed

wetlands and peatlands

Interaction between nutrients

and harvesting/ site management

Expertise on constructed

wetlands for nutrient retention

Site specific ecological

parameters and biomass

utilisation options

Radboud

University

Nijmegen

(NL)

Study of crop-soil-

water-interactions

(biogeochemistry)

Coordination of

(corporate) fieldwork

Investigations on crop-soil-water-

interactions (biogeochemistry)

Coordination of (corporate)

fieldwork

Estimation of carbon balance

Modelling of water level and

nutrient input to minimise THG

emissions and nutrient leakage

Some activities 2015

• Kick off meeting with all partners in Greifswald • Regular meetings of project staff in Greifswald • Visit of partners in Nijmegen • Conjoint Field investigations • Analysis of framework conditions in partner countries • Regular internal information (updates) to all partners • Awareness raising and Propagation of paludiculture local

and abroad, eg. • Belarus • Italy • Poland • Canada • International organisations

Thanks for listening

Black Alder (Alnus glutinosa)

productivity: 3 – 10 t DM/ha*a

emissions: 0 t CO2eq/ha*a

Using peat as a

fuel

• finite fossil resource

• destruction of natural mires

• release of Carbon

from a long-term store

• net emissions of CO2

• is unattractive under

the Kyoto Protocol

Alternatives for energy from peat

106 t CO2 per TJ

Using biomass from wet

peatlands as a fuel

• renewable resource

• restoration of peatlands

• fixation of Carbon

into a long-term store

• emissions reductions of CO2

• is attractive under the Kyoto

Protocol and eg. VCS

- 130 t CO2 per TJ