From Rewetting to Revenue: What Have We Learned About Making Paludiculture Work?
Paludiculture is increasingly being promoted as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from drained peatlands while maintaining productive land use, but what does it actually take to make wet farming work in practice? A new international review drawing together evidence from more than 400 scientific and grey-literature sources identifies the lessons emerging from Europe's growing number of paludiculture projects and highlights the challenges that still need to be overcome.
Moving beyond demonstration projects
Interest in paludiculture has grown rapidly over the past decade as governments, researchers and land managers seek alternatives to conventional farming on drained peat soils. The concept is simple: raise water tables to reduce peat degradation and cultivate crops that thrive under wet conditions. In practice, however, the transition from dry to wet agriculture is proving considerably more complex.
A recent review paper, Transitioning from Degraded Peat to Paludiculture: Evidence-Based Roadmap for Research and Practice, set out to understand what has been learned so far from paludiculture projects across Europe and beyond. Drawing on peer-reviewed research, grey literature and stakeholder input, the authors conclude that the foundations of a practical roadmap are beginning to emerge, but widespread adoption will require far more than simply raising water levels.
Start with the site, not the crop
One of the strongest messages from the review is that successful paludiculture begins with understanding the site itself. Too often, discussions focus on which crop to grow. However, the review found that factors such as peat depth, nutrient status, hydrology, water quality and land-use history are fundamental in determining which crops are likely to succeed and what management interventions may be required. The authors recommend that detailed site investigations should form the starting point of any paludiculture project. Previous agricultural management can leave long-lasting legacies in peat soils that continue to influence water management, nutrient cycling and crop performance long after rewetting begins.
Water management remains the critical challenge
If there is a recurring theme throughout the review, it is water. Maintaining water levels high enough to preserve peat while supporting crop production remains one of the biggest practical challenges facing paludiculture projects. Common approaches include ditch blocking, bunding, controlled drainage structures and irrigation systems, but maintaining suitable water levels throughout the year often requires active management. The review also highlights a major knowledge gap: we still know surprisingly little about the water requirements of many paludiculture crops. While species such as Sphagnum, Typha and common reed are becoming increasingly well understood, crop-specific information on evapotranspiration and irrigation requirements remains limited.
A small number of crops dominate research
Although the range of potential paludiculture crops continues to expand, the evidence base remains concentrated around a handful of species.
Most research focuses on:
Sphagnum mosses
Typha (cattail or bulrush)
Common reed (Phragmites)
Reed canary grass
These species currently provide the strongest evidence for productive use, greenhouse gas mitigation and management under wet conditions. However, the review identifies significant opportunities to explore a wider range of crops, including berry crops, woody species, medicinal plants and food production systems. Expanding crop diversity could improve the economic resilience and attractiveness of paludiculture.
Learning from Early UK Projects
While much of the published evidence comes from Germany and the Netherlands, UK paludiculture projects are beginning to build a practical evidence base of their own. Current work includes Sphagnum farming trials aimed at producing sustainable alternatives to peat-based growing media, alongside emerging Typha and reed projects exploring applications in construction materials, clothing, insulation and other bio-based products. Researchers are also investigating "wetter farming" approaches, which raise water tables while maintaining agricultural production, potentially providing a stepping stone between conventional farming and full paludiculture.
The review highlights the importance of these early projects, but notes that more long-term evidence is needed. Most trials remain relatively young, and understanding how paludiculture performs over multiple harvest cycles will be critical for building farmer confidence and attracting investment.
The biggest evidence gap is long-term data
Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the most important findings is what remains unknown.
The review identifies, perhaps inevitably, a lack of long-term studies as the single largest gap in the existing evidence base. Most projects are monitored for only a few years, while relatively few studies follow sites from rewetting through multiple harvest cycles. This creates uncertainty for farmers, investors and policymakers. Demonstration projects can show that crops establish and grow, but they do not necessarily demonstrate long-term profitability, management requirements or environmental performance. The authors argue that larger and longer-running projects will be essential for building confidence in paludiculture as a mainstream land-use option.
However, this gap should be viewed in context. Paludiculture remains a relatively young field of research and practice, particularly in the UK. A growing number of demonstration projects, farmer-led trials and research programmes are now underway, supported by new funding initiatives across Europe and the UK. While definitive long-term datasets are still limited, the evidence base is expanding rapidly and many of today's pilot sites are expected to provide the multi-harvest and whole-system data that are currently missing from the literature.
Environmental benefits are increasingly well established
The review finds that paludiculture generally reduces greenhouse gas emissions compared with conventionally drained peatland agriculture, although outcomes depend on water levels, crop choice and site conditions. Maintaining higher water tables reduces peat oxidation, slows subsidence and can substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Many studies also reported biodiversity improvements compared with drained agricultural land, while rewetted peatlands can provide additional ecosystem services such as nutrient retention and water-quality buffering. However, the review notes that environmental outcomes remain highly site-specific and that long-term monitoring remains important, particularly for greenhouse gas emissions, water quality and biodiversity.
The barriers are not just technical
Importantly, the review concludes that technical knowledge alone will not drive widespread adoption.
Across Europe, researchers and practitioners consistently identified barriers relating to finance, policy, regulation, infrastructure and markets. Farmers require confidence that suitable funding mechanisms, supply chains and end markets will exist before making significant changes to their businesses.
The authors also note that short-term project funding often fails to match the realities of land-use transition. Establishing, monitoring and harvesting paludiculture systems can take many years, while research and funding programmes are often considerably shorter.
Looking ahead
The review paints an encouraging but realistic picture of the current state of paludiculture. The evidence increasingly suggests that productive wet farming can play an important role in reducing emissions from degraded peatlands while supporting biodiversity, water quality and rural economies. Yet it also highlights that successful projects depend on careful planning, effective water management, long-term commitment and strong local knowledge. Across Europe, pioneering farms and demonstration projects are already showing that productive wet farming is possible. UK projects are now beginning to add their own experience to this growing evidence base. However, the review makes clear that wider adoption will depend on scaling these successes, developing stable markets, refining water management techniques and generating the long-term evidence needed to give farmers confidence to make the transition.
If there is one overarching lesson from the review, it is that paludiculture should not be viewed as a single crop, technology or management intervention. Rather, it is a site-specific approach to farming that begins with understanding the characteristics of the peatland itself and building a system that can deliver both environmental and economic benefits over the long term.
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