Paludiculture
Paludiculture is wet agriculture and forestry on peatlands. Paludiculture combines the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from drained peatlands through rewetting with continued land use and biomass production under wet conditions.
Impact of peatland drainage and rewetting
Peatlands store an enormous amount of carbon. Covering only 3% of the land surface, they store more than 450 GT of carbon. This is more than the amount of carbon stored by forests ,. Drained peatlands cause numerous negative environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas and nutrient emissions, subsidence and loss of biodiversity. Although only 0.3% of all peatlands are drained, peatland drainage is responsible for 6% of all human greenhouse gas emission. Peatland rewetting significantly reduces environmental impacts caused by drainage.Arguments for the preservation of peatlands, and cultivation of crops thereon
- Due to the drainage of soils in many areas, the soil height has dropped significantly over the years, and water quality has lowered as well. By making these areas wetter again, these problems are corrected to a large extent. As such, they can avoid the need of installations against rising sea levels
- By making soils waterlogged, carbon is unable to bind to oxygen, and hence will not escape into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide
- The preservation of the remaining peatlands is important for biodiversity.
- The growing of crops extracts phosphate from the land, which is important in wetlands; it also helps to extract other nutrients from water, making it suitable for post-water treatment purposes
Examples of potential crops for cultivation on wet and rewetted peatlands
Tab. Examples for potential and tested paludicultures.
| Species | Region & sites | Utilization |
| Alder | Central Europe, fen, oligo-eutrotrophic | Timber, fuel |
| Cattails | Central Europe, North America, West Africa, fen, polytrophic | Construction material, solid fuel, fermentation, fibers |
| Common reed | Europe, China, fen, polytrophic | Construction material, paper, solid fuel, fermentation |
| Illipe Nut | Tropics | Cocoa butter substitute |
| Jelutung | Tropics | Latex |
| Sago | Tropics | Starch |
| Sphagnum sp. | Worldwide, bog, oligotrophic | Growing media, revitalization |
| Water buffaloes | Europe, Asia | Cheese, meat, conservation grazing |