PaludiCentral: Building a network of large-scale paludiculture demonstration and research sites

Although drained peatland and other carbon-rich soils represent only 5% of the land surface in Germany, they contribute to 6.9% of total national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Transitioning from drainage-based to wet peatland management offers substantial benefits, including reduced GHG emissions, prevention of further peat degradation, improved water retention, and enhanced biodiversity. Moreover, paludiculture can be used to produce peat-preserving biomass on wet soils, including horticultural substrates, building materials and bioplastics. However, widespread adoption faces many obstacles, including complex approval procedures, high costs, limited expertise and a lack of established value chains for the biomass produced.

To address these challenges, the German government funds a collaborative network, the “PaludiNet”, consisting of nine long-term projects implementing large-scale paludiculture and the “PaludiCentral” project coordinating monitoring, research and knowledge transfer centrally. In total, around 5500 ha project sites are distributed across different peatland regions and vary in peatland type, site conditions, ownership, former land use and paludiculture approach. The projects collectively demonstrate the full process from site selection and rewetting to cultivation, management, processing, and marketing of paludiculture products.

Across all PaludiNet projects, a comprehensive monitoring network is being established to quantify, among a wide range of biotic and abiotic parameters, GHG fluxes at drained and rewetted sites. We will present this monitoring network both in terms of design and collaboration approaches. In addition, we will highlight preliminary cross-project results include the compilation of a catalogue of paludiculture biomass products which can be used as building materials, animal feed, packaging and energy carriers. Furthermore, we set up an online platform designed to facilitate the exchange of specialized machinery and technologies for the management of wet and rewetted peatlands. The platform enables practitioners to identify suitable equipment, suppliers, and contractors, compare products, and access relevant technical information.

By linking scientific evidence with practical implementation, this work bridges the gap between research and practice, supporting GHG mitigation, the upscaling of paludiculture, and the establishment of sustainable paludiculture value chains.