Wet Farming
For centuries, moors have been drained to make them arable. This releases carbon dioxide, which further heats our planet. Therefore, the areas should be rewetted. But how can they then be used economically?
The roadside sign in the western Dutch village of Ankeveen announces an "experiment in wet farming". Organic cows used to graze on the pasture here. Today, tarpaulin-covered sand dikes separate five pools in which reeds and cattails stand in the water. Wobbly wooden boards lead across the swampy meadow around the pools, solar cells pump water from the nearby canal. Tim Pelsma from the Dutch water authority Waternet has been in charge of the small test site since 2019."This winter we got our first crop of cattails," says the ecologist proudly as he wades through the ankle-deep water in rubber boots.
Researchers are conducting similar experiments in many places around the world where moorland used to be drained for agriculture. After all, drained peatlands play a key role in climate change. Peat soils make up just three percent of the earth's surface, but at around 500 gigatonnes they store around twice as much carbon as the entire biomass of all forests on earth.
"The first death, the second need and the third bread" is a saying about the moor…
