Paludiculture
The productive use of wet and rewetted peatlands
Paludiculture, or wetter farming, is the practice of growing crops that are suited to wetland conditions, often peatland. By carefully changing existing land drainage to raise the water table, these crops can then be farmed, ensuring the land remains financially viable.
Draining water from peatlands causes the carbon that was locked up in the peat to oxidise and be released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. The restoration of a higher water table and rewetting the peat locks the carbon in the peat and significantly reduces the greenhouse gas emissions.
For a further introduction to paludiculture read the Natural England blog “Paludiculture – the future of farming on peat soils?“ and the The Lancashire Wildlife Trust "What is wetter farming?" blog post.
For a more comprehensive appraisal of paludiculture:
A guide to support the practical implementation of paludiculture systems
Managing for a sustainable future: Cropping systems on drained lowland peat (pdf)
Impacts of paludiculture on the natural environment: a scoping report (pdf)
Videos
Talking Paludiculture
The Talking Paludiculture vlog is hosted by Megan Hudson (Fenland Soil), (https://vimeo.com/showcase/talking-paludiculture-pod). The podacasts are hosted by Elizabeth Stockdale (Niab). A new episode will be published every second week.
Experiences in the Lancashire Mosses (1)
Chris Field – Manchester Metropolitan University, Jenny Bennion – Lancashire Wildlife Trust, and Mike Longden - Lancashire Wildlife Trust
Winmarleigh Carbon Farm
Economics for farming carbon compared with low intensity grazing
Opportunities and challenges for paludiculture crops
Experiences from the Somerset Levels: part 1
Damon Bridge – RSPB, delivering a Landscape Recovery programme and Mike Stanton, Chair of Somerset Rivers Authority
Landscape and land use within Somerset Levels
Flood risk management with increasing extreme weather
Exploring landscape change opportunities
The role of paludiculture in landscape transitions
Challenges to change for farming systems
Experiences from the Somerset Levels: part 2
Will Barnard – Farmer and FWAG-SW and Anna Lantaff – FWAG-SW
On-going work with farmer groups in the Somerset Levels
Experiences trying to grow Typha (bullrush) as a crop
The vision of mosaic landscapes with protected sites, wetter grasslands, paludi-crops and green finance options
The science behind the spotlight on lowland peat (audio only)
Chris Evans - UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Peat are highly productive black soils, in this podcast Chris and Elizabeth discuss their importance in carbon management and their importance in helping us to achieve net zero. First published in December 2023 as part of the future farming resiliance podcast series.
Useful publications
Impacts of paludiculture on the natural environment: a scoping report
Impacts of paludiculture on the natural environment: a scoping report focussing on English lowland peat landscapes and providing an overview of:
observed and potential impacts of paludiculture on the natural environment, specifically soils, hydrology, water quality, biodiversity, and landscape character and heritage,
management options to minimise negative and maximise positive impacts,
open research questions and knowledge gaps related to these impacts, and
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to paludiculture and its impacts on the natural environment.
Taylor NG & Stockdale EA
2025
Paludi Products
The aim is to provide a comprehensive over-
view of products, prototypes and services related
to paludiculture and to show how diverse, innovative
and marketable this new form of land use already is
today. The catalogue is intended for:
Farmers – to demonstrate the existing demand for paludiculture biomass across a wide range of products.
Companies – that already process paludiculture biomass or plan to do so, offering inspiration and opportunities for networking.
Research, policymakers, and society – to show case the innovative potential of this field and highlight the diversity of existing products.
Greifswald Mire Centre
2025
Potential markets for paludiculture crops
Paludiculture has been proposed as a potential solution for maintaining the profitable use of lowland peatlands whilst significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, underpinning the success of paludiculture is the market viability of paludiculture products.
Katy Ross, Defra
2025
Potential for Greenhouse Gas Emission Savings from Paludiculture
Drained agricultural lowland peat accounts for 1.5% of the UKs total GHG emissions while supporting 40% of the country’s vegetable production. Paludiculture offers a potential alternative to conventional agriculture that combines profitable crop production with reduced environmental impacts.
Katy Ross, Defra
2024
More paliudiculture resources can be found here>>