DW Planet A explores paludiculture — the practice of farming on rewetted peatlands — through German farmer Sebastian Petri, who converted 107 hectares of dry farmland back into wetlands in 2015.
Key insights:
Drained peatlands account for 5–10% of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions globally, as dried-out dead plants rapidly decompose and release stored carbon as CO₂.
Raising water levels in degraded peatlands worldwide to just 25cm below ground could reduce their emissions by 65%, equivalent to 1.3% of global CO₂ emissions.
Paludiculture crops like marsh grass, common reed, and bulrush can generate 90–570 euros per hectare, though conventional farming remains more profitable without government incentives.
Around 300,000 sq km of cropland — roughly the size of Italy — needs rewetting globally to meaningfully address this largely overlooked climate issue.