A major new project has been launched to tackle greenhouse gas emissions from drained peatlands.

Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) is the UK lead in the EU-funded Horizon Europe project "Socio-Economic and Climate and Environmental Aspects of Paludiculture" (Paludi4all) – the productive use of wet and rewetted peatlands.

Paludi4All aims to support the EU's climate, nature restoration and carbon farming goals by promoting the development of paludiculture through innovative solutions emerging from a network of practitioners and researchers.

Some of the options being explored to re-wet peatland include growing cattail and using the plant's fluffy fibre for insulating clothing, growing reed as a building material, growing Sphagnum moss to replace peat in horticulture, and growing niche fruits, such as cloud berries.

Paludi4All is being delivered by seven research organisations with extensive interdisciplinary expertise in managing wet and rewetted peatlands. The project will contribute to the EU's broader environmental goals, including the implementation of the EU Climate Law, which mandates achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

Peatlands, when drained, become a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. The EU is committed to minimising these emissions by rewetting drained peatlands. With approximately 120,000–130,000 km² of drained peatlands across the EU, this effort requires rewetting an average of 500,000 hectares per year for the next 25 years to meet the 2050 climate neutrality target.

Vera Eory from SRUC said: "Peatlands comprise 12 per cent of the UK land area, and around 80 per cent of them are degraded, generating 4 per cent of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions. Restoration can provide significant emission savings as well as benefits to biodiversity, water quality and flood management. The UK and Scottish Governments have been promoting peatland restoration; in this effort paludiculture can play a role reconciling peatland restoration with agricultural production."

Boris Vashev, Project Coordinator from the Agency for Renewable Resources (FNR) said: "Paludiculture, the productive use of wet and rewetted peatlands, is scientifically recognised as a sustainable practice of peatland management. However, its adoption is still limited to a few pilot sites. To fully realise its potential, we need to scale up this innovative practice.

"Transitioning from traditional drained peatland management to paludiculture is complex. It involves identifying suitable crops for waterlogged soils, adapting land-use practices, and developing new value chains, including specialised machinery and markets. Additionally, policy frameworks must be updated, and perceptions of paludiculture need to evolve."

While paludiculture is recognised for its climate benefits, the broader environmental impacts – including water quality and biodiversity – are not yet fully understood. The Paludi4All project will address this knowledge gap by assessing the socio-economic, climatic, and environmental aspects of paludiculture, including its potential for mitigating climate change, enhancing biodiversity, and improving water quality.

The project will especially explore the potential of paludiculture to create rural jobs and support income generation, ensuring that the transition to this sustainable land-use practice benefits local communities across Europe. It will also address changes to habitual land use practices. The need to drain peatlands for profitable cultivation is deeply ingrained in the collective memory. The learning process must begin here to familiarise local communities with paludiculture.

Paludi4All aims to identify and promote innovative solutions for expanding paludiculture across Europe, based on a comprehensive assessment of its environmental, economic, and social impacts. These findings will provide valuable insights to help scale up paludiculture and support the EU's climate and nature restoration targets.