Press Release: Power to the Peatlands Conference Declaration
Antwerp, 22.09.2023
The landmark conference in Antwerp, Belgium, aiming to reposition peatlands at the core of European nature and climate policy, came out with a declaration for European policymakers. More than 500 peat experts present co-created this call to action. “A swift agreement among EU institutions on robust peatland targets, especially for the ones under agricultural use, is now imperative for initiating large-scale rewetting action to elevate the critical benefits of peatlands”, say the organizers.
The joint conference declaration and its policy recommendation emphasized that, in order to meet the EU climate and biodiversity objectives, peatland and peaty soils need to be preserved to prevent further carbon losses, while peatland restoration needs to be accelerated and land-use on peatlands made sustainable. Existing data on peatlands needs to be made available to a wider public, while there is still the urgent need for more monitoring and research. Ultimately the delegates of the conference called for sustainable and profitable business models for farmers, landowners and enterprises along the value chain of land use on peatlands.
Prof. Ruurd van Diggelen, chair of the conference notes: “The conservation of undrained peatlands, rewetting of drained peatlands and restoration of degraded peatlands is pivotal to reach global and EU goals in climate, soil health, water and biodiversity policy.“
Scientific, practical and policy questions of how to improve the current situation were discussed intensively at the “Power to the Peatlands” conference from 19th to 21th September 2023 in Antwerp with over 500 delegates representing scientists, site managers, farmers, entrepreneurs, non-governmental organisations and decision-makers, thus making it the largest conference of peatland experts ever held on the globe. Together they developed evidence-based policy recommendations for Europe as part of a conference declaration.
Van Diggelen highlights: “This conference showed the growing interest in peatland conservation and restoration and has therefore arrived in the center of society. This also needs to be recognized in European and national policy making. Despite great opportunities for peatlands restoration under the Nature Restoration Law, peatlands rewetting is being instrumentalized to the detriment of our climate and biodiversity objectives. We call on decision makers to take up the calls from this declaration and take action needed due to the climate and biodiversity crises', Van Diggelen said.
Intact peatlands provide major ecosystem services, like carbon storage and sequestration, water regulation, flood control and habitat for biodiversity. Peatlands store more carbon than rainforests and are the largest and most efficient terrestrial carbon storage on earth. Drained peatlands on the other hand release the previously stored carbon, and on a global scale they emit more than double the greenhouse gasses produced by air travel.
Our declaration can be found here
The declaration is supported by more than 90 signatories, including EU funded projects, scientists, non-governmental organisations, land managers, etc.
Rudy van Diggelen, ruurd.vandiggelen@uantwerpen.be tel +32 474 493 149
Katrien Wijns, katrien.wijns@natuurpunt.be, +32 497 05 29 21