Status: 01/10/2023 2:34 p.m
90 percent of the moors in Germany have been drained, many had to give way to agriculture. Environmental organizations find it fatal for climate protection and call for an international protection agreement.
Environmentalists warn against further draining of moors and call for more measures to protect them. For the climate crisis and the extinction of species, the progressive destruction of moors acts like a fire accelerator, explained the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND) and the Michael Succow Foundation at the presentation of the “Bog Atlas 2023“.
Drained moors account for a large proportion of CO2 emissions in Germany
Julia Cruz, RBB, daily news at 12:00 p.m., January 10, 2023
More CO2 emissions than air travel
“Although drained peatlands make up less than half a percent of the earth’s land area, they are responsible for more than four percent of all global man-made greenhouse gas emissions,” said Imme Scholz of the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s board of directors at a press conference. That is around two billion tons of CO2 – more than all global air traffic.
More than ten percent of the 500 million hectares of moors worldwide are already drained, in Central Europe well over 90 percent. Every year another 500,000 hectares are destroyed. Their peat layers were lost ten times faster than they can grow in intact moors, Scholz continued.
Rewetting for climate protection
Bogs bind a lot of carbon dioxide down to the deep layers. If they are drained, for example for agricultural use, the dry peat breaks down and releases the CO2. Their rewetting is considered an important climate protection measure.
In Germany, drained moors are responsible for seven percent of CO2 emissions. According to Scholz, this source of emissions can be reduced to almost zero by rewetting.
In our view, it is important to reach a binding international agreement to protect intact peatlands and restore drained peatlands.
Moore store CO2 and are therefore important for climate protection, say environmental experts.
Image: dpa
90 percent of the moors in Germany drained
According to the managing director of the Michael Succow Foundation, Jan Peters, well over 90 percent of the moors in Germany are already drained and damaged. In order to achieve the global climate goals, at least 50,000 hectares of peat soil would have to be rewetted in Germany every year – an area almost the size of Lake Constance.
Scholz called for Europe and Germany to support other countries in protecting moors. After all, Germany has pledged large sums to protect the climate and biodiversity.