Peatlands were drained for agriculture. Now researchers are trying to restore them

by ESCI

With wellies and waterproof clothing, Claudia Nielsen spent time splodging through the Bois-des-Bel peatlands earlier this year. The peatlands, located in Quebec, Canada, had been restored, with conservations working on them for 23 years. Nielsen was there to learn more about the restoration in her capacity as part of the coordination team of the EU project Wet Horizons – which aims to restore wetlands in Europe.

Peatland restoration expert Dr. Claudia Nielsen

Wetlands are at the frontline in the climate change fight

by Fred Pearce

No natural ecosystems – not even rainforests – store as much carbon as the world’s peat bogs. Once considered watery wastelands, and widely drained for agriculture, their restoration is now in the frontline of the fight against climate change and therefore the focus of important research.

Saving Europe’s Wetlands: The Key to Carbon Storage

by Fred Pearce

From the Balmoral royal estate in the Scottish highlands to bogs of the Biebrza valley in northeast Poland, and from the frozen peatlands of northern Finland to the Rhine delta in the Netherlands, many of Europe’s degraded wet places are leaking carbon dioxide into the atmosphere on a huge scale. We must call a halt.