Moore have what it takes to be a climate protector. Because Schleswig-Holstein is rich in moors, nature conservation and the state government rely on this potential. The problem: many moors have been drained for decades and are damaging the climate instead of protecting it. During a visit to a project by the Nature Conservation Foundation in Nutteln in the Steinburg district, Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) found out on Monday how the rewetting of moors can work.

"Schleswig-Holstein is one of the most moor-rich federal states and this is an important factor on our way to climate neutrality," said Günther. "By rewetting and renaturing peat soils, we not only create a significant CO2 store, but also secure habitats for many animal and plant species."

According to the Ministry of the Environment, there are around 130,000 hectares of moorland in Schleswig-Holstein, more than eight percent of the state area. Most of it is used for agriculture. In the dry moor, the peat is gradually decomposed. Among other things, large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) escape into the atmosphere and drive climate change forward. Also, the ground is sagging.

That is why drained moors in Schleswig-Holstein are waterlogged again. This stops decomposition and new peat moss growth begins. Wet moors have other positive effects, for example on biodiversity, because they provide habitat for numerous plant and animal species.

According to the Nature Conservation Foundation, around 2.8 million tons of CO2 come from drained moors in Schleswig-Holstein every year. That is about as much as all passenger cars cause in the country. In Germany as a whole, seven percent of CO2 emissions come from drained moors.

The Herrenmoor project that Günther visited covers an area of ​​260 hectares and saves 2,600 tons of CO2 equivalents per year. 255 hectares belong to the Nature Conservation Foundation, 5 hectares to the Nutteln community. The first phase of construction has been underway for a few weeks, and the second will start in the autumn of next year. The project is scheduled to last until 2027. The water is gradually dammed up so that valuable plant populations can get used to higher water levels and animals such as adders and moor frogs do not drown during hibernation.

From the point of view of the Foundation for Nature Conservation, Schleswig-Holstein is a pioneer in Germany with its course and a role model for the federal moor protection strategy. Almost 90 percent of the moors in Germany had been artificially drained in order to use the areas for agriculture. However, drained peat soils emit large amounts of carbon dioxide. In Schleswig-Holstein, they even contribute twelve percent to the total greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, water should be returned to many bogs. Intact moors, in which peat mosses grow again, actively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in organic plant matter.

The project in Herrenmoor impressively shows how biological climate protection is lived in Schleswig-Holstein, commented Prime Minister Günther. "Every tonne of CO2 that no longer comes from the peat soil is a direct contribution to climate protection," explained Sandra Redmann, Chairwoman of the Schleswig-Holstein Nature Conservation Foundation. "Every hectare of intact moor helps to preserve biodiversity here in Schleswig-Holstein."

Information from the Nature Conservation Foundation on the project