Peatlands play an important role in climate and biodiversity protection. Intact and near-natural peatlands provide numerous ecosystem services, such as the storage of carbon, the regulation of the water and nutrient cycle and offer important habitats for a variety of specialized species.

In Germany, over 90% of peatlands have been drained. The extensive rewetting of peatland soils is therefore of central importance. However, the implementation of peatland restoration is hindered by various obstacles. These include conflicting objectives both within nature conservation, and between nature conservation and climate protection. Drained peatland sites are often home to protected species and biotopes for which there is a lack of alternative sites in the event of rewetting, which is hampered by legal requirements such as the EU Birds and Habitats Directives. In addition, new EU policies such as the EU Nature Restoration Regulation or the EU Climate Law are increasing the competition for land between various sectors, which can influence the implementation of peatland and nature conservation measures.

On behalf of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), Ecologic Institute is working together with Biota and the Michael Succow Foundation to identify concrete and practical conflicts of interest in the restoration of peatlands. In addition, Ecologic Institute supports the identification of needs and deficits, the evaluation and development of legally compliant solutions and guidelines for dealing with these conflicting objectives as well as the development of practical guidance manuals.