The European Commission has approved a €1.3 billion German state aid scheme to pay landowners and land managers to rewet drained peatlands used for farming and forestry.
Peatlands are wetland ecosystems where partially decomposed plant material builds up as peat, which stores carbon, the Commission said in a statement on Tuesday.
Draining peatlands allows the peat to decompose further and releases greenhouse gases.
Drained peatlands used for agriculture and forestry account for 7% of Germany’s annual greenhouse gas emissions.
Under the scheme, Germany will fund permanent and extensive rewetting of peatlands and support continued agricultural and forestry use at higher water levels through “paludiculture” — farming on wet or rewetted peat soils.
The funding will be provided as direct grants covering up to 100% of eligible costs, including advisory services, investments to carry out rewetting, compensation for economic damage caused by rewetting, and support to establish paludiculture, the Commission said.
A 20% “speed bonus” will be available to beneficiaries who join within one year, it added.
Eligible applicants include landowners, land managers and owners of drainage infrastructure involved in rewetting projects in Germany. The scheme will run until 31 December 2029.
EU approval and next steps
The Commission said it approved the measure under EU state aid rules, which allow support for certain economic activities under specific conditions.
A non-confidential version of the decision will be published in the Commission’s state aid register under case number SA.118115 once confidentiality issues have been resolved.
