News/All pieces
Peatland sound & light

Vernissage EIN:FLUSS:RAUM:MOOR
30/10/24 EIN:FLUSS:RAUM:MOOR, the joint exhibition by MONAS-Collective and Greifswald Mire Centre, can be seen from 31st October -7th December 2025 in Spielhalle Kunst at Greifswald. It reflects peatlands in sound and light artwork inspired by Caspar David Friedrich and his fascination with landscape. In the painter's anniversary year, this exhibition invites visitors to experience beauty and significance of peatland landscapes in an unusual way - in a combination of climate data, audio recordings, light projections and exhibits.
The artists captured peatland sound using soil microphones at Kieshofer Moor and Karrendorfer Wiesen, both close to Greifswald. Together with data from greenhouse gas measurements by GMC scientists, these are converted into light pulses. The visitors themselves influence this system, as the installation also measures CO2 values in the room in real time.
The fusion of sound, image and sculpture can be experienced free of charge from Wednesday to Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm.
There are several side events, all free of charge, accompanying the exhibition:
- 9th November at 2 pm: a free guided tour through the exhibition
- 19th November at 5 pm: How to communicate peatland and climate protection? Students of landscape ecology at the University of Greifswald present ideas in unusual formats. Music, pantomime, theatre - come around an let yourself be surprised at Spielhalle Kunst.
- 23rd November at 1 pm: a finissage-peatland walk combined with a final guided tour through the exhibition by the Caspar David Friedrich Anniversary Office
Applause with reeds

Festive environmental award ceremony
27/10/24 She works in the lecture hall, in the field and in parliamentary hearings - peatland researcher Franziska Tanneberger is the kind of scientist one would wish for. Engineer Thomas Seidel has developed the “Swiss army knife of electromobility” to combat Germany's “range anxiety”. Secretary General Alexander Bonde and Chairman of the Board of Trustees Kai Niebert told the press before the award ceremony that choosing the winner of this year's German Environmental Award was not difficult.
Tanneberger and Speidel aim to say goodbye to “burning” - in very different ways. The entrepreneur at ADS-TEC Energy is advancing electromobility with fast charging stations. The scientist at the University of Greifswald and co-director of the Greifswald Mire Center wants to stop oxidation by draining peat soils and shows the opportunities for natural climate protection through wet peatlands.
“We should not be content with regularly failing to achieve our climate targets,” says Tanneberger. She appreciates the award because it raises awareness for solutions and because it is a great recognition for the entire peatland team in Greifswald. Its representatives waved reeds for applause.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also emphasized solutions in his speech: charging stations as self-evident as telephone booths used to be, he imagined. They were everywhere - except in the peatlands, Steinmeier said. In view of the climate crisis, its image is changing from sinister to beneficial. Signals, said Franziska Tanneberger, are sent to us by the peatlands even without a telephone box in them. She would like to use her share of the prize money to fund further research and implementation on climate and biodiversity protection in peatlands and their sustainable use.
About the German Environmental Award:
With the German Environmental Award, the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) annually honors the achievements of people who make an exemplary contribution to the protection and preservation of the environment. The prize is endowed with a total of 500,000 euros and is presented by the Federal President. Here are the media reports from tagesschau and others.
Paludiculture in Ukraine

New compendium by UNDP with expertise from Greifswald
14/10/24 Northern Ukraine became the focal point of an ambitious project aimed at peatland restoration and climate protection. The Michael Succow Foundation (MSF), partner in Greifswald Mire Centre, jointed the United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine (UNDP) to provide expert support on paludiculture for the project “Promoting sustainable livestock management and ecosystem conservation in Northern Ukraine” funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the FOLUR platform (The Food Systems, Land Use and Restoration Impact Programme).
The project aims to transform 3 million hectares of land into a model for ecologically conscious agriculture, with a focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing soil fertility, and protecting endangered species. It embraces paludiculture, a sustainable form of wetland farming designed to reduce carbon emissions by rewetting and cultivating peatlands. Wendelin Wichtmann (Michael Succow Sitftung) was commissioned to assess its feasibility in Ukraine, with Olga Denyshchyk securing alignment with Ukrainian conditions. Their work included conducting a comprehensive desk study and producing a compendium of findings, which was made available in Ukrainian.
The compendium is intended for farmers, representatives of local communities, the scientific community, and civil society. Its purpose is to provide a scientific basis for the implementation of internationally recognized environmentally-oriented agricultural practices, particularly on wet peatlands, adapted to the unique conditions of Ukraine. The compendium also provides recommendations for the application of paludiculture practices on restored peatlands, combining environmentally-oriented solutions with economic efficiency.This is the first collection in Ukraine that contains scientific information about paludiculture a sustainable land-use method, already being implemented in European Union member states.
Invitation of the MoKKa project

Closing conference at 7th Nov at Schwerin
114/10/24 Germany’s peatlands are key to achieving our climate goals, but are we doing enough? As the final event of the MoKKa project approaches, the pressing question remains: How can we mobilize more stakeholders for effective peatland climate protection? On November 7th in Schwerin, this conference will bring together experts and decision-makers to explore innovative solutions and forge new paths forward. Currently, only 2,000 hectares of peatland are rewetted annually in Germany—an effort that falls far short of the 50,000 hectares per year required to meet climate targets. This gap highlights the need for immediate and extensive action. We must accelerate permitting processes, expand training programs for professionals, and engage the public in supporting peatland restoration as a vital tool for climate mitigation.The conference will focus on the following topics:
- Accelerating planning and permitting processes, improving land availability
• Building support structures
• Promoting peat formation – when and how?
• Climate education on peatland climate protection with the Peatland Suitcase (Moorkoffer)
The program offers ample space for exchange and discussions on solutions and past experiences. Among the speakers are Nathalie Niederdrenk (BMUV), Prof. Sabine Schlacke (University of Greifswald), Almut Mrotzek (Mooragentur MV), and Tom Kirschey (Competence Center for Natural Climate Protection). The conference, jointly organized by the Michael Succow Foundation, the University of Greifswald, and the Nature Conservation Foundation Deutsche Ostsee, addresses professionals, multipliers, and decision-makers in administration, business, education, and politics, as well as all those interested in peatland climate protection. Register by October 25th, 2024.
The MoKKa Project is fundedthe Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) is supporting the partners at the Greifswald Moor Centrum (University of Greifswald and Michael Succow Foundation) as well as the Nature Conservation Foundation Deutsche Ostsee (Ostseestiftung) from 2022 to 2024 through the National Climate Protection Initiative (NKI). The goal is to build capacity for the implementation of peatland climate protection in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and across Germany. More information can be found at www.mokka-projekt.de.
Climate-neutral building materials

An opportunity for peatlands?
8/10/24 Agora Agrar and Greifswald Mire Centre invite you to the expert discussion ‘Climate-neutral building materials - an opportunity for wet peatland use’ on 14th November 2024, 14:30 - 20:00 at the dbb Forum Berlin Friedrichstraße.
On the way to a climate-neutral economy, the demand for biomass as a substitute for fossil raw materials - for example for building materials - is increasing. Biomass from the cultivation of wet peatlands - known as paludiculture biomass - can meet part of this demand and open up economic prospects for farmers on rewetted peatland sites. This requires new value chains, as the cultivation and utilisation of paludiculture biomass is still in its infancy. This requires a suitable political framework. Not only agricultural and environmental policy, but also climate and economic policy are of great importance here. The event will address both the potential of paludiculture biomass for the construction industry and the political scope for action that can enable and promote new value chains for the material utilisation of paludiculture biomass in the construction sector.
Registration is now possible until 31 October 2024 on this website: www.agora-agrar.de/aktuelles/klimaneutrale-baustoffe.
Peatlands & climate & Baltic coast

Restoration on 850 hectares by 2034
5/10/24 Twelve diked coastal polders between Rostock and the Polish Baltic Sea will be restored over the next ten years as part of the ‘Peatland Climate Protection on the Baltic Sea Coast’ project. One aim of the ANK model project is to significantly reduce the ongoing release of climate-damaging gases on these 850 hectares, up to 24,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. Another aim is to establish climate-friendly land use. Last Friday, Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke visited Bresewitz (district of Vorpommern-Rügen) to see the successfully renaturalised peatland areas on the coast. She handed over the grant notification for 27.8 million euros to the project managers Georg Nikelski (Baltic Sea Foundation), Professor Maren Voß (Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde/Marine Cycles) and Professor Gerald Jurasinski (University of Greifswald/Greifswald Mire Centre). The project is funded by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, the funds are provided by the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV) in the Natural Climate Protection Action Programme (ANK). The state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is contributing 2.3 million euros to the project.
Image: People from left: Prof Maren Voß, Georg Nikelski, Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, Dr Balázs Baranyai (Baltic Sea Foundation), Minister Dr Till Backhaus, Prof Gerald Jurasinski (Photo: Andreas Krone.)
Paludiculture & Biodiv, Cardboard, Theatre

New newsletter
1/10/24 Paludiculture in combination with biodiversity, cardboard and theatre - these are just some of the topics covered in the current issue of our newsletter: A new information paper summarises experiences from Germany on how biodiversity develops on paludiculture areas. Sustainability manager Karla Jabben explains how and why OTTO GmbH has developed a shipping box partly made from paludiculture biomass. There is also an invitation in the newsletter: On the Day of German Unity on 3 October, the Greifswald Mire Centre and the University of Greifswald will be holding a Theatre & Talk in Schwerin to take a look at the history and future of peatland management - entertaining, free of charge and open to all.
We hope you enjoy reading the newsletter and would be happy to receive feedback on it by e-mail to communication@greifswaldmoor.de.
New information paper on paludiculture and biodiversity

Everything important in brief
26/09/24 Compared to agriculture on drained peatland, paludiculture promotes biodiversity, as the new information paper of Eberswalde University of Sustainable Development, Peatland Science Centre and Greifswald Mire Centre summarizes. It’s clear: typical peatland and peatland-specific species have no habitat on drained peatland soils. If and which they have on cultivated rewetted areas, is meanwhile shown by studies in several areas. For example, the number of Red List species of birds has doubled within four years on a cattail cultivation area in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. On a peat moss cultivation area in Lower Saxony, the number of dragonfly species typical to bogs almost equals that of near-natural bogs in the area after nine years of observation.
After rewetting, wetness-loving and rare species are found where previously widespread species of moist or dry conditions dominated. The intensity of use, mowing and harvesting time have different effects on these species. The mowing of areas creates a more species-rich vegetation due to less litter, more light incidence and leaching. In winter, however, this causes a lack of host plants and winter refuges for some animal species. The information paper addresses both negative and positive aspects, as well as possible conflicts with nature conservation and accompanying measures that can promote biodiversity.
GMC with theatre and expert talk in Schwerin
German Unity Day - not without peatlands

GMC with theatre and expert talk in Schwerin
25/09/24 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is hosting the multi-day celebrations for German Unity Day this year. An opportunity to present the state's moors and research with a look into the past and perspectives for the future - packed into a varied program. Entertaining, open to the public and free of charge on Thursday, October 3 from 15:15-16:45 on the Zukunftsforum stage in the inner courtyard of Schwerin Castle:
15:15 “Moor muss nass, oder was” - A play by the 9th grade of the Martinschule Greifswald: the moor researcher Prof. Dr. Hans Joosten from Greifswald manages to travel into the GDR past to the year 1958 with the help of Mephisto. There, thousands of young people are busy draining the Friedländer Große Wiese, a vast peatland in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Why are they doing this, will the professor succeed in convincing the young people to stop their work and what plans is Mephisto actually pursuing?
15:45 Back in the present, the students meet the bog professor in real life. They ask him questions: Why would Joosten have preferred to stay in the past and why did the enthusiasm of the past turn into the disaster of today?
16:00 What potential does paludiculture offer for agriculture and the economy? What needs to happen politically for more paludiculture and how can research contribute to this? Dr. Franziska Tanneberger (GMC Director and winner of the German Environmental Award), Dr. Till Backhaus (Minister for the Environment and Agriculture MV), Tobias Gruber (Division Manager Sustainability OTTO Group) and farmer Robert Wellen will discuss these issues. The event will be moderated by Jan Meßerschmidt, Head of University Communications at the University of Greifswald.
GMC auf IPCS in Weihenstephan

Overview of our contributions
10/09/2024 From 18th-21st September, the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences is hosting the International Peatland Science Conference (iPSC). Naturally, numerous GMC employees will be taking part with presentations and posters. Here is an overview of them:
Thursday 19th September
14:45 More than a paper tiger: Paludiculture pilot projects in paper production - Clemens Kleinspehn
15:00 Paludiciulture can support biodiversity conservation in rewetted fen peatlands - Hanna R. Martens
Friday 20th September
8:30 Opening with environmental Art ‘MoorReaktor’ - MONAS collective in cooperation with GMC
13:20 Keynote People make Peatlands - practical projects and political processes towards peatland rewetting - Prof. Dr Gerald Jurasinski:
11:15 The relevance of drainage ditches as breeding habitat for mosquitoes in Northern Germany - Felix Sauer
15:30 Water Management for Spaghnum and Typha Paludiculture - Matthias Krebs
15:30 Spaghnum paludiculture sites as surrogate habitats for bog species of many species groups - results of long-term investigation in Northwest Germany - Dr Greta Gaudig
16:00 Bright spots in peatland conservation and restoration Renske Vroom
16:00 Putting Paludiculture into practice - six years of large scale Typha cultivation in Northeast Germany - Josephine Neubert
16:15 Peat formation potential of Typha spp. on a Paludiculture pilot site - Meline Brendel
16:30 PEATMAP: Prototype model for the study of peatland and swob distribution, ecology and carbon dynamics in the Iberian Peninsula lanscaoe mosaic - Miguel Geraldes
16:30 Paludiculture and biomass quality of cattail on a 10 ha Paludiculture Pilot site in Northeast Germany - Nora Köhn
Dr Franziska Tanneberger, GMC co-director and winner of the German Environmental Award 2024, is a member of the Scientific Committee. The conference will take place at the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences (HSWT) campus in Freising. Further information in the detailed programme.