07.08.2015 change 07.08.2015

Two Polish peat bogs will be subject to re-naturalization

Photo: Fotolia Photo: Fotolia

Torfowiska Szczecineckie and Słowińskie Błota are the two peat bog areas, in which over the next five years a re-naturalization program will be carried out at the cost of about 1.8 million euros. Correctly maintained peat bogs contribute to the reduction of carbon dioxide.

The five-year Polish peat bogs protect program will be implemented by the German Association for Nature Conservation (NABU - Naturschutzbund Deutschland) in collaboration with Polish environmental organization - Naturalist’s Club (Klub Przyrodnika).

"We focus on the protection of wetlands and peat bogs, because they are very valuable ecosystems, not only from the point of view of protection against climate change, but also from the point of view of the quality of the atmosphere" - told PAP Tom Kirschey, peat bogs protection program coordinator at NABU.

Paweł Pawlaczyk from the Naturalist’s Club emphasised in an interview with PAP that peat bogs are the only ecosystems that thanks to specific plants capture carbon dioxide from the air and covert it into peat. "If the area is not drained, this peat, and carbon with it, remains in the area forever, and in addition peat accumulates all the time" - he added.

According to representatives of NABU, bogs in their natural state "are among the most important carbon sinks in the world". "Although they occupy only three percent of the Earth\'s surface, they contain one-third of terrestrial carbon reserves - twice as much as all the forests in the world" - reported the organization. In addition, destroyed bog emit large amounts of carbon dioxide that in the air turn into harmful greenhouse gas.

Work in Torfowiska Szczecineckie will include two wetlands: Bagno Kusowo and Brzezińskie Bagno. The second area subjected to re-naturalization will be Słowińskie Błota. All of these bogs are areas covered by the Natura 2000. Preliminary re-naturalization work has already been conducted in these areas in the past years, consisting mainly in blocking the outflow of water.

"Both of these areas suffered badly in the 1980s because of drying, when drainage ditches were dug. Although in many of these ditches baffles were installed to prevent the outflow of water, the condition of the bogs is not perfect" - said Kirschey.

He added that work on the re-naturalization of peat bogs will consist in the construction of further partitions and barriers - mainly in drainage ditches, which will stop adequate amount of water, mostly rainwater, in the wetlands.

"Without water, bog does not fulfil its function" - noted Kirschey. He emphasised that a very important thing is to ensure that the appropriate level of water is maintained. "When there is too much water, we build ourselves a small methane bomb: bog stops acting as carbon dioxide storage and starts to release methane, which we want to avoid" - he said.

He explained that in addition to the construction of appropriate partitions, work on peat bogs will also include the restoration of wetland vegetation that bogs need to fulfil their task. "Where there is no vegetation characteristic of such places, we will try to introduce it, for example we will introduce sphagnum moss, which is the basic building block of bog" - said Kirschey.

He added that in the case of some bogs the organization is at the stage of obtaining the necessary permits and immediately after obtaining them they can begin work. In his opinion, the first concrete results of the work could be seen in the beginning of next year.

Funds for the work will come from the International Peatland Conservation Fund, established this year by NABU and Volkswagen Financial Services.

A significant portion (1 million euros) of 1.8 million euros allocated to the protection of Polish peat bogs, comes from Volkswagen Financial Services. According to Kirschey, organization intends to obtain the remaining funds for the project intends from regional, Polish funds and the Life program financed by the EU. "We will submit an official request for funding on September 15th" - said Kirschey.

In addition to Poland, NABU wants to pursue similar projects in cooperation with Volkswagen Financial Services also in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, and in the future possibly also in Sweden and the UK.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland

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