News/All pieces

Pioniering for more practice

in planting reed

27/08/2025  80,000 young plants have been planted in the Bargischow-Süd polder in Vorpommern since mid-July. An impressive action! As part of the Paludi-MV project, a dense, high-quality reed bed is to be created here for agricultural use. A tractor with a strip tiller has drawn long rows in the grass on the previous grassland before a soil auger prepared the planting holes, and the seedlings were transported and planted in the field using a quad. After planting, the area will be flooded. The harvest is planned for winter when the plants have lost their leaves and no birds are nesting. In the past, fodder for livestock was grown here, but due to high water levels and soil degradation, the quality was inadequate. Long-term drainage has decomposed the peat, and the polder has settled by over a meter in height. Today, it is therefore one meter below sea level. This is where the reeds come into play as an alternative! They can be used for thatched roof, plaster carriers, insulation boards or cellulose for papers and cartons. Since experience in reed cultivation is still rare, PaludiMV is examining the costs and challenges of planning and implementation.

The pilot project "Paludi-MV" is jointly implemented by the Landgesellschaft Mecklenburg-Vorpommern mbH und der Universität Greifswald , and it is funded by the  Federal Ministry for the Environment . The goal is to test paludiculture on two polder areas: Bargischow-Süd (LK Vorpommern-Greifswald) and Sandhagen (LK Mecklenburg Lake District).

Moorkoffer, the Second

Even Moore Fun and a Song Collection

28/07/2025  The Moorkoffer 2 (in german) is not a finished suitcase – it is a collection of educational materials for peatland and climate education, designed for teachers, environmental educators, volunteers, and anyone actively engaged in education for sustainable development.
The publication contains 50 methods: from soil drilling and role-playing games to experiments, meditations, and creative reflection formats. These methods are flexible, location-based, and adaptable to different needs – they can be used even without access to a real peatland. All materials are freely available and can be used and shared under the CC BY-NC license, meaning non-commercial use with attribution.
Additionally, there's the musical audio play "Im Libellenwunderland" (in german) for children in daycare centers and primary schools, which playfully explores topics such as biodiversity, water scarcity, and climate change. It is available on Spotify, YouTube, and SoundCloud. The booklet “IM.MOOR.SEIN.”, designed to promote mindful sensory experiences in peatlands, guides individuals and groups of all ages through all four seasons. All materials were developed as part of the MoKKa project by the Succow Foundation and the University of Greifswald.

Paludi Product Catalogue, ProMoFa and more

New issue of the Paludiculture Newsletter

20/07/2025  The new issue of the Paludiculture Newsletter is here – packed with highlights and background information on peatland conservation and paludiculture!

Some topics in the current issue:

• Programme highlights of RRR2025 – more information about the international conference
• The big collecting: the Paludi Product Catalog aims to showcase current products in one place
• Peatlands & Defense – an unusual perspective
• Regional insights: Peatland conservation how-tos – handouts for Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein
• ProMoFa project in Bavaria – results and practical insights
• Valpeats & Peatland monitor – an interview on the digital assessment of peatland areas

Also: new publications, and an overview of current events on peatlands, climate protection, and paludiculture in the calendar. We hope you enjoy reading and welcome feedback on the newsletter by email to communication@greifswaldmoor.de.

Environmental minister Schneider at GMC

at inaugural visit to MV

04/07/2025  On 3 July 2025, Federal Minister Carsten Schneider of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) had a stopover at the Greifswald Mire Centre during his first official inaugural trip through Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The message was clear: peatlands must remain at the top of the agenda in today's environmental policy.

Franziska Tanneberger, winner of the German Environmental Award 2024, and colleagues demonstrated at various places in and around Greifswald how science on peatlands can be used as a basis for political decisions, how business models can be developed from sustainable peatland use and how these can be scaled up. At the Karrendorfer Wiesen, Schneider could observe  field research of the DFG-funded WETSCAPES project of the University of Greifswald on the ground and also the peatland protection of the Succow Foundation, which owns the nature conservation areas there.
At Greifswald itself, the GMC peatland experts took the VIP-visitor to the mesocosm facility, which monitors plant growth in 108 mini peatlands, to a clone collection of 200 reed and 500 peat moss clones, as well as to the peatland library with more than 50,000 publications. They showed the database on peatlands worldwide and at the Michael Succow Foundation first paludiculture products from an an alliance of several companies. This all made clear:
The Greifswald Mire Centre‘s work has not only raised public awareness over the last 10 years, but has also attracted the interest of large business groups. Germany thus has the opportunity to expand its pioneering role in climate protection through rewetting and paludiculture. Environmental Minister Schneider was impressed: "The University of Greifswald’s peatland research is a unique selling point! MV Environment and Agriculture Minister Dr Till Backhaus also supports the long-term preservation and expansion of this in a non-university research institution.