peatlands 1 taitto.indd - International Peat Society

PEATLANDS 

International 

Peatlands and Climate Change 

1/2006 

Peatland Restoration in Canada and Europe 

25 Years Mire Conservation in Lower Saxony 

1

Sun, Water, Klasmann! Your recipe for success. 

info@klasmann-deilmann.de www.klasmann-deilmann.com 

2 PEATLANDS International 1/2006

PEATLANDS 


1/2006 

Publisher 

International Peat Society 

Vapaudenkatu 12 

FIN-40100 Jyväskylä, Finland 

Phone: +358 14 3385 440 

Fax: +358 14 3385 410 

E-mail: ips@peatsociety.org 

Web: www.peatsociety.org 

Editor-in-Chief 

Jaakko Silpola, Secretary General 

Assistant to the 

Editor-in-Chief 

Susann Warnecke, 

Communications Manager 

Editorial Board 

Gerry Hood, Canada 

Karel B. Brezina, Czech Republic 

Juhani Päivänen, Finland 

J. D. Becker-Platen, Germany 

Donal Clarke, Ireland 

Jos Schouwenaars, Netherlands 

Tomasz Brandyk, Poland 

Lars-Erik Larsson, Sweden 

R. Allan Robertson, UK 

Thomas J. Malterer, USA 

Layout 

Susann Warnecke, IPS Secretariat 

Saarijärven Offset Oy 

Printed by 

Saarijärven Offset Oy, 

Finland, in June 2006 

Cover photo 

Calowanie Fen in Poland, an old 

peat cutting area overgrown with 

sedge-moss vegetation. Photo: 

Paulina Dzierza 

ISSN 1455-8491 

In this issue 

Editorial: IPS in drive! ..................................................................4 

From the President’s Desk: Climate Change Working Group: 

The next big exercise for IPS .........................................................5 

A lot of under 300-year-old peat layers in Finland .......................7 

International Symposium on Peat in Horticulture .........................8 

Wim Tonnis Peat Award 2006 to Hans Joosten and 

Donal Clarke .............................................................................. 10 

New Faces in IPS Key Functions ................................................... 11 

Meetings, Mires, a Museum and more at 

the IPS Convention in Hanover .................................................. 12 

25 Years Mire Conservation Programme in 

Germany’s Lower Saxony ........................................................... 14 

Riau Declaration on Peatlands and Climate Change .................... 18 

Dutch Government Fights Fires in Kalimantan ............................ 19 

Knowledge Transfer Workshop for the Restoration 

of Peatlands, Québec .................................................................20 

LIFE Co-op: Project for Restoration Management 

of Bogs and Dunes .....................................................................22 

Wise Use and Restoration of Peatlands in Poland - Invitation 

to a five-day excursion in late August .........................................25 

In memoriam: Roy L. Ingram and Henry W. Fraser .....................26 

Professor Doctor Honoris Causa Tomasz Józef Brandyk ..............27 

The nature guide to the Polish Biebrza Marshes ..........................29 

Symposium “Mountain and Upland Peatlands” in Poland ...........30 

International Meeting on Cloudberry Cultivation 

in Baie-Comeau, Québec ............................................................32 

New IPS Members .....................................................................34 

The Imnati Mire in the Kolkheti Lowland in Georgia .................35 

Telma No. 35 .............................................................................39 

Premier Tech Systems: Bringing Automation 

to the Peat Industry ................................................................... 41 

Visit the IPS Online Shop ............................................................42 

BOGLAND - A Protocol for Wise Use and 

Sustainable Management of Peatlands in Ireland .........................43 

Join the International Peat Society ..............................................45 

Do you know Peat News? ..........................................................45 

Recording the Past: the Power of Peat ........................................46 

Future IPS Conferences and Symposia .........................................50 

Events of related organisations ...................................................50 

Information for Advertisers ........................................................50 

3

IPS in drive! 

The Annual Assembly held in Hanover, 

Germany was extremely successful. 

The IPS National Committee of 

Germany had arranged a splendid 

program for us and a pleasant meeting 

place at the Hotel Jägerhof just 

outside the city. So it was no wonder 

that about eighty IPS members decided 

to get together for three days – it was 

defi nitely worth coming! During the 

whole time I sensed a relaxed and open 

atmosphere although there were important 

elections to be held and many 

decisions to be taken. 

At the Annual Assembly, the new 

Wim Tonnis Peat Award had its fi rst 

prize winners and what kind of winners! 

Dr Hans Joosten and Mr Donal 

Clarke were duly awarded for their 

distinguished contribution to peat and 

peatland science and industry, especially 

in the promotion of Wise Use. 

They both have had a great impact in 

developing the concept of wise use of 

peat and peatlands in open interaction. 

Once again, congratulations to the 

winners! IPS received very many excellent 

nominations for the award and 

they will be valid for two more years. 

In addition to this, the IPS Secretariat 

welcomes all new proposals for the 

next Award which will be conferred at 

the Annual Assembly 2007. 

The IPS Executive Board has now 

three new members and I want to 

welcome Håkan Bjur of Råsjö Torv 

from Sweden, Valerijs Kozlovs of the 

Latvian Peat Producers Association 

and Jutta Zeitz of the Agricultural 

Faculty of Humboldt University Berlin 

Editorial 

4 PEATLANDS International 1/2006 

to the Board. Also I want to thank all 

other candidates who stepped forward 

and accepted the nominations by their 

member countries. This open election 

system, in which candidates are 

known well in advance of the election, 

evidently makes IPS more interesting 

and transparent. 

I would also like to welcome Gerald 

Schmilewski from Klasmann-Deilmann 

GmbH, Germany as the new chairman 

of Commission II on the Industrial 

Utilization of Peat and Peatlands, and 

Bruno Berken of the growing media 

association CAS from France as the 

new Coordinator of the Horticultural 

Peat Working Group. At the same time, 

I want to express my warmest thanks to 

the retired Executive Board members 

Gerfried Caspers, Bernt Hedlund and 

Matti Hilli as well as to Donal Clarke, 

former Chairman of Commission II, 

for their devoted work in IPS. 

The Annual Assembly accepted the 

proposal of the Executive Board that 

Sweden should host the IPS International 

Peat Congress 2012. There was 

a fair and challenging competition 

between Estonia, Latvia and Sweden to 

host the event. All candidate countries 

and their proposals were evaluated very 

carefully. The IPS Congress, which is 

held every fourth year, is an excellent 

and advanced event for all peat and 

peatland experts. I hope that Ireland in 

Tullamore 2008 and Sweden in Stockholm 

2012 are even able to enlarge our 

main event, time after time. 

The Round Table Discussion of 

National Committees before the 

Jaakko Silpola 

Annual Assembly dealt with many 

issues among which the future of IPS 

was raised several times. We heard 

very good descriptions of why some 

countries have adopted new rules for 

National Committees in order to open, 

activate and enlarge the peat society 

within their countries. 

I strongly believe that each National 

Committee is able to signifi cantly 

increase its membership by attracting 

researchers, students, businessmen and 

consultants, company experts, teachers, 

journalists, artists and active citizens. 

Why should we gather new members? 

The answer is that open access is one 

of our key values and communication 

is another. An IPS National Committee 

is a perfect platform for all kinds 

of experts and stakeholders related to 

peat and peatlands who together can 

promote and advance the fruitful and 

wise use of peat and peatlands as well 

as the objectives of the IPS. 

The next Annual Assembly of 

National Representatives will be hosted 

by the Latvian National Committee 

on 24- 26 May 2007. The program 

will certainly be interesting, including 

a study tour and several unoffi cial and 

offi cial meetings. IPS will maintain its 

efforts to organize topical and wellprepared 

events in which it is easy for 

all people to participate. See you again!

Markku Mäkelä 

From the President’s Desk 

Climate Change Working Group: 

The next big exercise for IPS 

More than one year ago, on 20 February 

2005, the IPS Executive Board held 

a sauna meeting aboard a ferry on the 

Baltic Sea. There was only one item on 

the agenda. What next after the Wise 

Use Guidebook, an exercise of several 

years between the International Peat 

Society and the IMCG, the International 

Mire Conservation Group. After 

the second round in the steam room, a 

topic emerged, not a new one but the 

highly important, debatable and timely 

current issue of Peatlands and Climate 

Change. 

The topic was then discussed thoroughly 

within the recently established 

Scientifi c Advisory Board (SAB) of 

IPS at its second meeting in Warsaw, 

Poland. Having accepted the topic 

unanimously, SAB was asked to draft 

terms of reference for an Expert 

Group to be invited to develop the 

idea and work out an action plan for 

dealing with the complex issue of 

Peatlands and Climate Change. Each 

of the eight IPS Commissions then 

nominated a representative for the 

Participants of the fi rst IPS Peatlands and Climate Change Working Group meeting on 1 February in Helsinki: Matti Saarnisto, Kari Minkkinen, 

Mike Waddington, Lars Lundin, Kristina Holmgren, Jukka Laine, Magnus Brandel, Maria Strack, Ryszard Oleczszuk, Markku Mäkelä, Timo 

Nyrönen, Mats Olsson, Heinrich Höper, Jaakko Silpola and Jack Rieley (left to right). Photo: Susann Warnecke 

5

Expert Group in order to incorporate 

expertise from different sub areas and 

viewpoints. On the fi rst day of February 

2006, 16 invited experts assembled 

in the House of Estates in a pretty 

cold Helsinki, where there was no sign 

of global warming. 

In my opening remarks, I called to 

mind that, in late November of the 

last year of the previous millennium, 

IPS and IMCG urged the contracting 

parties to the UNF Convention on 

Climate Change, better known as the 

Kyoto Protocol, to include the actions 

mentioned in a joint position paper 

of IPS/IMCG, the so called Freising 

Statement, in the Convention. As, since 

then, nothing of what the position paper 

emphasizes has changed, I take this 


opportunity to repeat the statement 

here, from the present president’s desk. 

The CC-WG kick-off meeting in 

Helsinki was preceded by an “International 

Seminar on Greenhouse impacts 

of the use of peat and peatlands in 

Finland” on 31 January, organized by 

the Finnish Forest Research Institute. 

In the seminar, ten highly professional 

papers were presented, describing 

results of a four-year project on 

greenhouse impacts of the Finnish 

peatlands. The seminar, chaired by Professor 

Jukka Laine, formed, together 

with the Freising Statement, an excellent 

basis for the discussions of the 

CC-WG meeting on the next day. 

Professor Laine, co-chaired by 

professor Matti Saarnisto, Secretary 

The Freising Statement 

The role of peatlands in man-induced climate change 

Position paper of IPS/IMCG addressed to the IPCC 

I. Introduction 

1. Peatlands contain about 35% of the global terrestrial surface carbon store; 

2. Development of pristine peatlands for agriculture and peat extraction stops 

carbon sequestration and leads to a decrease of the peat carbon pool on these 

sites; drainage of peatlands for forestry negatively affects peat carbon sequestration, 

but increased biomass may temporarily (1-2 centuries) compensate for sequestration 

losses; the rewetting of disturbed peatlands can contribute to carbon 

sequestration; 

3. Large scale fi res in peatlands cause substantial carbon release; 

4. The role of peatlands in the global carbon balance and climate change is presently 

not taken into account by the UN FCCC, Kyoto Protocol. 

II. Aims 

5. The UNF Convention on Climate Change should include actions designed to: 

• Promote the maintenance of existing carbon stores in peatlands; 

• Prevent the uncontrolled release of carbon from peatlands; 

• Maintain the carbon sequestering role of pristine peatlands; 

• Promote the restoration of disturbed peatlands for carbon sequestration; 

• Reduce, by wise use, the emissions of greenhouse gases from peatlands currently 

being used; 

• Promote further studies on carbon balance in peatlands and its role in global climate 

change. 

III. Action plan 

6. Create a data base on size and utilization of peatlands in order to obtain information 

about the carbon pool and its changes; 

7. Minimise the drainage of pristine peatlands; 

8. Reduce the emissions from existing agricultural, forestry, and peat extraction activities 

by wise use; 

9. Mitigate losses through restoration and other appropriate measures; 

10. Avoid the introduction of perverse incentives for climate protection matters, 

(such as peatland drainage for afforestation for the sole purpose of acquiring 

carbon credits). 

The contracting parties to the UNF Convention on Climate Change (Kyoto Protocol) 

are urged to include the above mentioned actions in the Convention. 

Freising, November 28, 1999 

Jens Dieter Becker-Platen Richard Lindsay 

General of the Finnish Academy of 

Sciences and Letters, conducted the 

CC-WG kick-off meeting through 

discussions on the purpose of the 

working group, on outcomes of the 

preceding seminar, other related research 

and working groups currently in 

operation in the fi eld of peatlands and 

climate change as well as the relation 

of the scientifi c activities and results to 

the IPCC and climate effect accounting 

methods in general. An important 

topic was the positioning of the IPS 

Peatlands and Climate Change Working 

Group towards other networks. 

In order to ensure the success of the 

two years work of CC-WG, a lot of 

emphasis was given at the Helsinki 

kick-off meeting to the objectives, 

methodology, timetable and the budget 

of the project. 

As a concluding outcome of the 

meeting, the working group decided 

that it would prepare an assessment 

report on “Peatlands and Climate 

Change”. Professor Jukka Laine will 

chair and coordinate the exercise. 

Invited CC-WG members will act as 

authors and contact points within their 

own fi elds of science. Funding of 

the CC-WG will be provided through 

the IPS budget, an issue which was 

handled at the IPS Convention in early 

May in Hanover, Germany. The CC- 

WG work was initiated without delay 

by asking authors to provide their topic 

proposals to Professor Laine, who will 

coordinate the content of the report. 

As an appetizer of the topics to 

be handled in the assessment report, 

this issue of Peatlands International 

contains a short sample entitled “A lot 

of under 300-years-old peat layers in 

Finland“ by Dr. Markku Mäkilä of the 

Geological Survey of Finland. � 

Prof. Ph.D. Markku Mäkelä 

IPS President 

Geological Survey of Finland 

e-mail: markku.makela@gtk.fi

A lot of under 300-year-old peat layers 

in Finland Text: Markku Mäkilä 

Markku Mäkilä from the 

Geological Survey of Finland 

analyzes the carbon storage 

abilities of Finnish mires 

according to their age, type 

and location. 

Geological peatland covers an area 

of 5.1 million ha in Finland, having 

a mean depth of 1.4 m. The Finnish 

national peat reserves total 69.3 billion 

m 3 in situ, while the carbon storage of 

Finnish mires is 3.2 billion t (627 t per 

hectare). The original peatland area 

covered ca. 10 million hectares. 

The long-term peat increment of 

Finnish mires has been calculated on 

the basis of 520 dated peat columns. 

The calibrated radiocarbon ages 

correspond to the present time, as 

50 years were added to them. The 

long-term peat increment in Finnish 

mires varies considerably, depending 

on many factors. For example, the rate 

of increment is higher in geologically 

young mires than in old ones (Fig. 1), 

higher in southern and western than 

in eastern and northern Finland, and 

higher in ombrotrophic bogs of southern 

Finland (Sphagnum area) than in 

minerotrophic mires (sedge area) of 

northern Finland (Fig. 1). 

The highest recorded rates are 2-3 

mm yr -1 in young coastal bogs and the 

lowest, under 0.1 mm yr -1 , in the uplands 

of northern and eastern Finland, 

where the bottom soil topography is 

sloping. The average peat increment 

rate is 0.32 mm yr -1 . The rate in areas 

of peat deeper than 2 metres is 0.4 

mm yr -1 , when northern aapa and palsa 

areas are excluded. 

The vertical peat increment rate 

was determined from 39 dated peat 

columns mainly representing the thickest 

peat layers of mires. Several datings 

were performed from separate levels 

in each column. The rate has varied 

greatly during the last 10 000 years 

(Fig. 2). Variations in peat increment 

rates can mainly be explained by the 

changes in vegetation composition and 

decomposition rates due to natural 

mire succession and variations in local 

conditions, especially moisture and 

nutrient conditions. However, the role 

of the climate cannot be ignored. Usually, 

about 5-20% of the plant biomass 

production is deposited as peat. Most 

of the biomass decays in the oxic peat 

layer at the surface and returns to the 

atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO 2) . 

The proportion of the carbon 

store of mires contained in the surface 

peat layer (age 50-430 years, average 

250 years) was 

examined in 25 

peat columns of 

known age, dry 

bulk density and 

carbon content. 

This proportion 

was found to 

vary considerably 

(2-37%), 

approximately 

corresponding to 

the proportion of 

virgin peat but not 

the proportion of 

the energy content 

in the surface 

layer. However, 

due to the natural 

conditions, especially 

the moisture 

and nutrient 

conditions, areal 

differences were 

substantial and the 

proportion differed 

greatly even 

between adjacent 

mires. In addition 

to the age of the 

surface peat layer, 

the carbon store 

also depends on 

many other fac- 

tors such as the thickness of both the 

surface (0.1-1.0 m) and the total peat 

layer (0.5-7.8 m), and the age (710-10 

440 years) and carbon store of the 

total peat layer (180-2790 t ha -1 ). 

The highest proportions of carbon 

in the surface peat layer (>20%) were 

found in quite young mires under 1000 

years old in the coastal bogs of the 

highest uplift area. For example, in this 

type of bog the carbon content of surface 

peat layers aged 160 years was 114 

t ha -1 on average. The carbon accumulation 

(g m -2 yr -1 ) of this type of young 

bog can be compared to the annual 

carbon accumulation of young birch 

Fig. 1. The variability of long-term peat increment rates in various 

parts of Finland. 

7

International Symposium on 

Peat in Horticulture - Peat in the 

Stranglehold of Interest Groups 

Amsterdam 

30 October 2006 


The 5th International Symposium on “Peat in 

Horticulture” will be held in Amsterdam, the 

Netherlands on Monday, 30 October 2006. 

Traditionally, the Symposium will take place 

one day before the well-known International 

Horti Fair, which is held on 31 October - 

3 November 2006. 

In 2003, the Symposium dealt with “Additives 

in Growing Media”. Discussed were additives 

like wetting agents, microbials, lime, growth 

regulators etc. 

This time, we will have lectures and discussions 

about PEAT. We will try to get answers 

on questions like: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Is there an impact on our climate because 

of the use of peat? 

Can peatfi elds be transformed into nature? 

Are there rules and regulations concerning 

the extraction of peat? 

Is peat necessary in horticulture? 

The symposium is being coordinated by 

the Horticultural Peat Working Group of IPS 

(HOPE), Sympo Peat and the IPS Dutch 

National Committee. 

All details about the venue, the registration 

fees and speakers will be announced soon. 

Please check www.peatsociety.org and Peat 

News for updates. 

More information on the International Horti 

Fair 2006 is available at www.hortifair.nl.

sapling stands in cut-away peatland that 

is ash fertilized. The carbon content of 

surface peat layers aged 250 years in all 

25 dated columns was also 114 t ha -1 

on average. The lowest proportions 

were found in old mires with a thick 

peat layer (3-5%) and in old but quite 

thin mires with a low surface carbon 

content, especially in the northern aapa 

mire area (4-7%). 

Determining the average proportion 

of the total carbon store of mires 

contained in the surface peat layer is 

therefore diffi cult. However, recent 

accumulation rates of peat per unit 

time are generally higher than the apparent 

long-term carbon accumulation 

rates. This difference is mainly due 

to the longer period for decomposition 

as well as losses from mires due 

to fi res during the accumulation of 

the older peat. It is, however, possible 

that the carbon accumulation rate has 

increased due to the climate in recent 

years. Thus, the comparison is not so 

straightforward. 

The time scales relevant for the 

stabilisation of the CO 2 concentration 

in the atmosphere are, according to the 

IPCC Third Assessment report (IPCC 

2001), in the order of 100-300 years. 

About half of the emitted amount of 

CO 2 will be present in the atmosphere 

Fig. 2. Rate of vertical peat increment in a young raised bog, a raised bog area and an aapa 

mire area. 

after 100 years. Because the renewal 

time of peat layers under 300 years old 

is less than the time horizon consid- 

Fig. 3. A coastal bog with a high rate of peat and carbon accumulation. Photo: Tapio Toivonen 

ered for the stabilisation of the atmospheric 

concentration, these biomass 

sources can be regarded as renewable 

for climate consideration. 

Generalizations based 

on our results must be 

treated with caution and 

it would be preferable to 

perform further tests and 

to examine thinner peat 

layers. 

More samples from 

different parts of Finland 

are needed to determine 

the exact amount and 

proportion of carbon 

found in under 300-year 

old peat layers. � 

Senior scientist 

Markku Mäkilä 

Geological Survey 

of Finland 

markku.makila@gtk.fi 

9

Wim Tonnis Peat Award 2006 to 

Hans Joosten and Donal Clarke 

The first Wim Tonnis Peat 

Awards of IPS were 

conferred on 6 May 2006 

in Hanover, Germany on 

Dr. Hans Joosten and 

Mr. Donal Clarke. 

The awards, each consisting of a 

framed scroll and a cash prize of 

1,000, were presented in recognition 

of Dr. Joosten’s and Mr. Clarke’s commitment 

to peatlands and peat, their 

efforts in advancing and spreading 

knowledge about the value, benefi ts 

and use of peatlands, and, in particular, 

the work these two gentlemen have 

done for the Wise Use of Mires and 

Peatlands. 


The International Peat Society confers 

the Wim Tonnis Peat Award annually 

to an IPS member who has made a 

distinguished contribution to peat and 

peatland science or industry, especially 

in the promotion of Wise Use. 

The Award was launched in 2005 in 

honour of the late Wim Tonnis (1933- 

2005), a very committed and active IPS 

member and former Chairman of the 

IPS Dutch National Committee who 

promoted and participated in many 

important peat projects. 

On 6 May 2006, before the Annual 

Assembly of National Representatives 

in Hanover, the Wim Tonnis 

Peat Award was conferred for the 

fi rst time. The IPS Secretariat had 

received seven nominations from 

IPS Secretary General Jaakko Silpola, Laureates Hans Joosten and Donal Clarke and IPS President 

Markku Mäkelä (left to right) in the garden of Hotel Jägerhof in Hanover-Langenhagen after the Wim 

Tonnis Peat Award Ceremony. 

Text and photos: Susann Warnecke 

its members, 

which were reviewed by 

the Scientifi c Advisory Board 

and the IPS Secretariat, before 

the IPS Executive Board made 

a fi nal decision on who should 

receive the award. This year, 

the Board decided to confer 

two awards instead of one as 

Hans Joosten and Donal Clarke 

together were the driving force 

behind the most extensive 

exercise of IPS which involved 

compiling, editing and publishing 

the Wise Use Book as well 

as close cooperation between 

IMCG and IPS. 

In their acceptance speeches, 

the recipients emphasized 

particularly the need for further 

cooperation between the two 

organizations and their members. 

All nominations for the 

Award submitted in March/ 

April 2006 will remain in force 

until 2008. Further nominations 

for 2007-2009 can be 

sent to the IPS Secretariat until 

31.12.2006. We warmly congratulate 

the laureates! �

New Faces in IPS Key Functions 

New IPS Executive Board 

Members 

At the Annual Assembly in Hanover, 

three new Executive Board members 

were elected in place of the retiring 

members Gerfried Caspers, Bernt 

Hedlund and Matti Hilli. Their terms 

of offi ce last from 2006 to 2010. 

Håkan Bjur 

Mr. Håkan Bjur is Group Managing 

Director of Råsjö Torv AB in Hudiksvall, 

Sweden. He is in close contact 

with TorvForsk, the new Swedish National 

Committee of IPS. 

Mr. Håkan Bjur 

Råsjö Torv AB 

Bjälkgatan 1 

SE-824 43 Hudiksvall, Sweden 

Tel. +46 650 54 7450 

Fax +46 650 54 7457 

E-mail: hakan.bjur@rasjotorv.se 

Valerijs Kozlovs 

Mr. Kozlovs is Chairman of the Board 

of the Latvian Peat Producers Association, 

which has become a very active 

National Committee of IPS within the 

last few years. 

Gerald Schmilewski of Klasmann-Deilmann 

GmbH, Germany chairs IPS Commission II 

on the Industrial Utilization of Peat after the 

retirement of Donal Clarke. 

Valerijs Kozlovs from Latvia, Jutta Zeitz from Germany and Håkan Bjur from Sweden (left to 

right) were elected to the IPS Executive Board at the Annual Assembly in Hanover. 

Mr. Valerijs Kozlovs 

Latvian Peat Producers Association 

Bauskas str. 20 

LV-1004 Riga, Latvia 

Tel. +371 7605096 

Fax +371 7627810 

E-mail: peat.lv@peat.lv 

Jutta Zeitz 

Prof. Dr. Jutta Zeitz is the fi rst woman 

to be elected to the IPS Executive 

Board. She works as Head of the Division 

of Soil Science at Humboldt University 

Berlin, Germany. 

Prof. Dr. Jutta Zeitz 

Humboldt University Berlin 

Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture 

Division of Soil Science 

and Site Science 

10115 Berlin, Germany 

Tel. +49 30 20 93 9030 

Fax +49 30 20 93 8369 

E-mail: jutta.zeitz@agrar.hu-berlin.de 

Bruno Berken of CAS, France succeeds 

Mr. Schmilewski as the Coordinator of the 

Horticultural Peat Working Group (HOPE 

WG) within Commission II. 

11

Meetings, Mires, a Museum and more 

at the IPS Convention in Hanover 

This year’s IPS Convention, 

including the Annual Assembly 

of National Representatives, 

Board meetings and 

other events, took place in 

Hanover, Germany on 3 - 7 

May. On these pages, you 

can find the first impressions 

of this successful event. 

The IPS Convention in Hanover once 

more provided a welcome opportunity 

to meet other IPS members, to talk 

about ongoing projects and to make 

important decisions. About 80 IPS 

The IPS members spent every free minute between meetings and presentations getting to know 

each other and exchanging ideas, as here at the Ecological Protection Station. 


Text and photos: Susann Warnecke 

The National Representatives 2006: Tom Malterer, USA; Andrzej Lachacz, Poland; Allan 

Robertson, UK; Gerfried Caspers, Germany; Bente Kahr, Denmark; Claes Bohlin, Sweden; 

Erki Niitlaan, Estonia; Riitta Korhonen, Finland; Valdis Polmanis, Latvia on behalf of 

Lithuania; Donal Clarke, Ireland; Leo Schipper, the Netherlands; Valerijs Kozlovs, Latvia; 

Gerry Hood, Canada; Bruno Berken, France; András Tóth, Hungary; Dmitriy Gogin and Anya 

Sycheva-Mikhailova, Russia (left to right). Photo: Susann Warnecke 

members came to our meetings at the 

Hotel Jägerhof in Hanover-Langenhagen 

or attended the fi eld trip. Besides 

Germany, participants came from Belarus, 

Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, 

France, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, 

the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Sweden, 

United Kingdom and the USA. 

In the evening of the fi rst day, SAB and EB 

members visited the famous Herrenhäuser 

Gärten. Photo: Jaakko Silpola 

The Convention included meetings of 

the Scientifi c Advisory Board (SAB) 

and the Executive Board (EB) on 4 

May, an excursion to conservation and 

peat production sites on 5 May as well 

as meetings of Commissions II and 

VIII, a Round Table Discussion, the 

Annual Assembly of National Repre

Gerfried Caspers introduced Lower Saxony’s Mire Protection Programme at the peatlands of 

ASB Greenworld. Lars Lundin, Riitta Korhonen and Claes Bohlin listened carefully. 

The Annual Assembly approved the Annual Report 2005, elected three new Executive Board 

members and decided that the International Peat Congress 2012 will be held in Sweden. 

Successfully rewetted peatland at the lake 

Steinhuder Meer near Neustadt. 

Below: Everybody watched curiously how 

Mr. Hofer and Mr. Rudolph used ground 

penetrating radar, GPS and a quad to survey 

the peat profi le at the production site. 

sentatives and the Wim Tonnis Peat 

Award Ceremony on Saturday, 6 May. 

During the excursion, the IPS 

members visited the Ecological Protection 

Station Steinhuder Meer with its 

excellent exhibition and got to know 

ASB Greenworld’s headquarters, one 

of Europe’s largest substrate plants. 

On a peat train, the whole group drove 

According to Hartmut Falkenberg, the peat 

production season in Germany had started 

only recently this year due to a long winter. 

deeply into the production sites and 

heard interesting presentations on 

modern surveying techniques, peat 

production and rewetting efforts. 

After lunch at the Neue Moorhütte, 

we visited the Peat Museum Schloss 

Landestrost and fi nished an exciting 

day with a glass or two of sparkling 

wine in the castle’s wine cellar. Thanks 

to all hosts and attendants! � 

13

25 Years Mire Conservation 

Programme in Germany’s Lower 

Saxony Text: Eckhard Schmatzler, Gerfried Caspers 

Translation: Susann Warnecke 

The Annual Assembly 2006 

of IPS was held in Hanover, 

the capital of Lower Saxony. 

Now it is time to talk about 

the efforts of all stakeholders 

in the Federal State who 

have been combining conservation 

and utilization of 

their peatlands in a truly 

wise manner. 

Historical development 

– Conflicts between 

agriculture, peat extraction 

and nature conservation 

In previous centuries, the development 

of the peatlands of Lower Saxony was 

characterised by different approaches, 

the aims of which were, respectively, 

their use as settlement areas and to 

produce food and fuel for the local 

population. 

In the 70s of the last century, 

however, the public more and more 

arrived at the view that the remaining 

Sphagnum as a renewable raw material: Sphagnum papillosum 

has established itself twelve months after its application in a 

large-scale fi eld trial. The mosses were spread and covered 

with straw in autumn 2004. Photo: Gerfried Caspers 


raised bog areas of 

Lower Saxony should 

be preserved. At that 

time, about 60% of 

the raised bog area 

(155,000 ha) were 

in agricultural and 

forestry use, whereas 

bout 30,000 ha were 

used for peat extration. 

At that time, 

it was also planned 

to extract the peat 

from the last remaining 

raised bogs. In 

those years, it seemed 

to be impossible to 

overcome the different 

opinions of 

conservationists on 

the one side, and the peat industry on 

the other. 

On 1 April 1972, the Soil Extraction 

Act (Bodenabbaugesetz) came into 

force. The law determined how nature 

conservation bodies at rural district 

government level should 

deal with applications for 

peat extraction. The new 

application procedure and 

the documents required to 

obtain planning consent 

required, for the fi rst time, 

an overall plan for the 

use of the bogs according 

to the aims of nature 

conservation. Until 1972, 

agriculture had been the 

main after-use for peatlands 

once peat harvesting 

had fi nished. 

By this means, the 

1970s brought about new 

Map of Lower Saxony. Source: Landesvermessung und 

Geobasisinformation Niedersachsen 

approaches on how to 

deal with Lower Saxony’s 

raised bogs, which became 

recognised as “wetlands 

of international importance” in the 

minds of the public, as designated by 

the Ramsar Convention in 1972. The 

aims for their maintenance were and 

are: the conservation of the near-natural 

peatlands, the preservation of the 

wet meadow areas and the rewetting of 

near-natural and partly extracted raised 

bogs. 

Working Group on Peatland 

Use – Land Management 

A Working Group, consisting of representatives 

of nature conservation 

and soil research bodies, was founded 

on 11 January 1977 following an order 

of the Ministry of Agriculture which 

was, at that time, responsible for nature 

conservation. Its purpose was to ease 

the continuously increasing confl ict between 

peat extraction and nature conservation 

by an intensive exchange of 

thoughts and experiences, among others, 

with the peat industry, agricultural 

stakeholders and the nature conservation 

authorities.

Building wooden barrages. Photo: Thomas Beuster 

To achieve this, a state-wide survey 

and evaluation of the raised bog areas 

was initiated. Emphasis was laid, fi rstly, 

on giving advice and cooperation in 

carrying out the survey from a geological 

and nature conservation view. 

Survey and Evaluation of all 

Raised Bogs 

Within the framework of two research 

projects, all raised bogs of Lower Saxony 

were surveyed and evaluated. This 

inventory included mapping and evaluation 

of about 2,500 km 2 of raised 

bogs, as defi ned geologically. 

In 1980, an expert report dealing 

with more than 88 raised bog complexes 

used for industrial peat extraction 

was presented, entitled “Analysis 

of Lower Saxonian peat deposits to 

evaluate the resources worth extracting 

and their conservation value with 

regard to their optimal utilisation” 

(Untersuchungen an niedersächsischen 

Torfl agerstätten 

zur Beurteilung der abbauwürdigen 

Torfvorräte und der 

Schutzwürdigkeit im Hinblick 

auf deren optimale Nutzung). 

In 1983, all remaining 263 

raised bog complexes of the 

plains were surveyed and 

published in a report entitled 

“Analysis of Lower Saxonian 

raised bogs to evaluate their 

conservation value including 

a survey and evaluation 

of all remining near-natural 

raised bogs“ (Untersuchungen an 

niedersächsischen Hochmooren zur 

Beurteilung ihrer Schutzwürdigkeit für 

den Naturschutz einschließlich einer 

Bestandsaufnahme und Bewertung 

aller noch verbliebenen naturnahen 

Hochmoorfl ächen). 

Mire Conservation 

Programme Part I, Part II 

and Update 

The survey and evaluation reports 

presented led to the Lower Saxonian 

Mire Conservation Programme, which 

was adopted by the government of 

the Federal State on 1 December 1981. 

The Programme was published in two 

parts: 

• Part I (1981) for the raised bogs 

with importance for the peat 

industry and 

• Part II (1986) for the remaining 

raised bogs of the plains 

Lichtenmoor: Rewetted area fi ve years after industrial peat extraction. Eriophorum vaginatum 

and Sphagnum cuspidatum have re-established in the area. Photo: Gerfried Caspers 

An update of the Programme was initiated 

by the Ministry of the Environment 

in 1994. 

Aims and Realisation of 

the Lower Saxonian Mire 

Conservation Programmes 

The Federal State of Lower Saxony 

accepted the Mire Conservation Programme 

and its commitment towards 

the country’s government to protect 

raised bogs. As the other Federal States 

of Germany do not, by far, have as 

many raised bogs as Lower Saxony, 

the conservation of these peatlands is 

especially important in this part of the 

country. 

The Mire Conservation Programme 

defi nes the following goals: 

• 

• 

• 

Conservation of the remaining 

natural and near-natural raised 

bogs 

Protection of small raised bogs 

Re-wetting of raised bogs after 

peat extraction and of disturbed, 

drained raised bogs with the aim 

of restoration as raised bogs 

To reach these goals it was decided to: 

• 

• 

• 

designate all current natural raised 

bogs and buffer zones, totalling 

540 km 2 , as nature protection 

areas and to maintain and improve 

them by support and development 

measures 

designate about 150 small raised 

bogs in a near-natural state as 

nature protection areas or natural 

monuments 

rewet peat production areas on 

raised bogs of about 300 km 2 , renaturate 

them and designate them 

as nature protecion areas. 

Conclusion 

On 1 December 2006, the Lower Saxonian 

Mire Conservation Programme 

will turn 25. On this occasion, it is time 

to take stock of its achievements, to 

present its success and to reward those 

involved in the project, but also to 

evaluate what is left to do. 

Today, all near-natural raised bog 

areas and small peatlands, altogether 

covering more than 50,000 ha, are 

15

protected and maintained as “Lower 

Saxonian landscape“. 

Peat production areas are required 

to be prepared for nature conservation. 

This means that, usually, they 

are rewetted and restored when peat 

extraction has fi nished. Today, about 

12,000 ha of former peat production 

sites are on their way to become mires 

and wetlands. The areas currently 

under production, amounting to about 

30,000 ha, will be prepared for a natural 

development afterwards. 

The valuable wet meadows threatened 

by intensive agricultural use shall 

be maintained, developed and integrated 

with the protection areas. Today, 

the large wet meadows are managed 

in a way so as not to disturb meadow 

birds. For instance, the populations 

of the curlew (Numenius arquata), 

the redshank (Tringa totanus) and the 

black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa) were 

strengthened in recent years. 

One more example is the re-settlement 

of the crane, that has found its 

regular nesting areas in the peatlands. 

Water fowl, such as the teal (Anas crecca), 

is a regular guest in the re-wetted 

areas. Also butterfl ies and dragonfl ies, 

but also reptiles, can often be seen. 

The high importance of the raised 

bogs as habitats of very valuable bioeconosises 

(species thriving together) 

of typical peatland plants and animals 

has led to the designation of representative 

and important conservation 

areas in Germany and in Europe. 

Areas restored after peat-production 

also belong to this group. 

The raised bogs have been made 

accessible and thereby tangible and 

understandable for all people interested 

in them by creating bog walks, 

look-outs, information centres and 

peat trains. The conservation of the 

peatlands is widely accepted within the 

local population. 

Wise Use for 25 years 

In many regards, the mire conservation 

programme of Lower Saxony 

already carries the central ideas of the 

Wise Use of Mires and Peatlands, long 

before these were formulated by Hans 

Joosten and Donal Clarke in 2002. 

Not without reason, the initial meeting 

for the Wise Use concept among 


Rewetted peat extraction area. Photo: Eckhard Schmatzler 

IMCG and IPS members was arranged 

in Lower Saxony’s Surwold in 1997. 

Especially, the guidance principles 

for Wise Use are inherent in the Mire 

Conservation Programme of Lower 

Saxony, for example: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

the preparation and guidance work 

of the working group on mire 

utilization and land management, 

and the guidance by the German 

Peat Society (principle of public 

participation), 

the research projects surveying the 

raised bogs (principle of careful 

decision-making), 

the benefi ts for the society (principle 

of motivation), 

the publicly accessible basics 

(principle of public access to 

information), 

the protection of habitats (principle 

of species integrity) and 

the compensations 

(principle of 

compensation). 

Also in its dimension, 

the Lower 

Saxonian Mire 

Conservation 

Programme is 

one of the largest 

projects of its 

kind. Particularly, 

the areas of restored 

peatlands 

are, with their 

12,000 ha, so far unique even on a 

worldwide scale. 

Future distribution of Mires 

in Lower Saxony 

It is estimated that, with the Mire Conservation 

Programme, about 112,000 

of the former 250,000 ha raised bog 

area of Lower Saxony can be restored 

to growing raised bogs. This area consists 

of: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

current natural and near-natural 

raised bogs: 50,000 ha 

today’s restored areas: 12,000 ha 

industrially utilized areas, to be 

restored after peat extraction: 

30,000 ha 

future peat production areas, to be 

restored afterwards: 20,000 ha 

= total future raised bog area in 

Lower Saxony: 112,000 ha 

Restored and near-natural bogs in Lower Saxony.

Continuation of 

the Lower Saxonian 


Programme 

The Mire Conservation Programme 

does not have any 

limited duration and its aims 

will also be valid in future. 

However, the agricultural use 

of the peatlands of Lower 

Saxony has already overstepped 

its peak. The areas are still used, 

but, because of microbiological 

decomposition, the fi elds are 

literally run down. In future, 

water-logged areas, bad drainage 

and other problems will 

make work for the farmers even 

more diffi cult and/or force them to 

abandon these fi elds. 

In Lower Saxony, the peat industry 

has at its deposal only the peat under 

the fi elds and meadows in agricultural 

use. Today, these peatlands, which have 

often been in agricultural use for more 

than 100 years, are, due to nutrient 

accumulation and soil modifi cation, no 

longer directly restorable into growing 

mires, even if they were rewetted 

properly. 

Most of the agriculturally-used 

former raised bogs have already transformed 

to marginal revenue sites, on 

which agriculture can not be carried 

out effi ciently anymore. Therefore, 

the industrial extraction of the peat 

from these wet meadows can produce 

restoration areas which, in the long 

term, can be transformed to new mire 

areas. The survey and documentation 

of these “returned areas”, guidance 

in their preparation and their fi nal 

inspection will be one of the most 

important tasks of mire conservation 

in the future. 

The regional development plan of 

Lower Saxony designates preferred areas 

for peat extraction. These resources 

will be suffi cient until the middle 

of the present century. Already today, 

extraction permissions until 2030 and 

further on have been issued. 

One special project is the research 

on how to cultivate Sphagnum mosses 

to be used as fresh biomass instead of 

white peat in horticultural substrates. 

First trials to initiate the growth of 

Sphagnum mosses on cut-over peat- 

Restored area after peat extraction at Gnarrenburger Moor. Photo: Gerfried Caspers 

lands have started and promise to be 

successful. The use of fresh Sphagnum 

mosses as an additive in horticultural 

substrates has shown encouraging 

results. 


Programme also for Fens 

The Mire Conservation Programme of 

Lower Saxony originally covers only 

raised bogs. However, only if fens are 

also considered, will a complete mire 

conservation programm be achieved. 

Besides the raised bogs, fens are also 

typical of the landscape of Lower 

Saxony. Often both peatland types are 

connected and appear as a spatial unit. 

Compared with raised bogs, it has 

turned out 

that the 

protection 

and development 

of 

fens presents 

a more 

complex and 

sophisticated 

problem, not 

least because 

they are fully 

under agricultural 

use. 

While raised 

bogs, having 

their own 

water balance, 

can be seen 

seperately, 

as islands in 

the landscape, fens form an integrated 

part of the surrounding areas. Their 

effective conservation must therefore 

extend the area of the fen itself and 

also involve the surrounding landscape. 

The great success of the mire 

conservation in Lower Saxony shall encourage 

all stakeholders to move on in 

this direction and direct their attention 

also to the conservation of the fens in 

the Federal State. � 

Gerfried Caspers 

Eckhard Schmatzler 

Landesamt für Bergbau, Energie 

und Geologie 

Hanover, Germany 

e-mail: gerfried.caspers@ 

lbeg.niedersachsen.de 

In former times, peat extraction was a hard work also in Lower Saxony. 

Today, museums help to visualize how mires were used by the local 

population in the past. Photo: Peat Museum in Neustadt 

17

Riau Declaration on Peatlands and Climate Change 

The Workshop on “Vulnerability 

of Carbon Pools in 

Tropical Peatlands” was held 

in Pekanbaru, Riau, Sumatra 

from 23 - 26 January 2006. 

It was attended by 61 participants 

from 12 countries. 

Orang Utan: The peat swamp forests of Central 

Kalimantan harbour the largest remaining Orang Utan 

populations in the world. Photo: Marcel Silvius, WI 

The Workshop on Vulnerability of 

Carbon Pools in Tropical Peatlands 

was held in Pekanbaru, Riau, Sumatra 

on 23 - 26 January 2006. It was attended 

by 61 participants from 12 

countries and organised by the Global 

Carbon Project (GCP), the Global 

Environment Centre (GEC) and the 

Centre for International Forestry Research 

(CIFOR). It reviewed the extent 

of carbon store in tropical peatlands, 

land use change and fi re, greenhouse 

gas (GHG) emissions, future climate 

scenarios and management options. 

A fi eld visit to the Kampar Peninsular 

to assess current peatland plantation 

management practices was facilitated 

by APRIL/PT Riau Andalan Pulp and 

Paper. 

The workshop was supported by 

The Asia Pacifi c Network for Global 

Change (APN); the joint project of 

Wetlands International and GEC on 

Integrated Management of Peatlands 

for Biodiversity and Climate Change 

(funded by UNEP-GEF); and the joint 

Project of Wildlife Habitat Canada, 


Wetlands International and GEC on 

Climate Change Forests and Peatlands 

in Indonesia (funded by CIDA); GCP 

and CIFOR. 

The workshop noted that peat is 

one of the world’s most important 

carbon stores (storing about 30% of 

global soil carbon) and tropical 

peatlands are an extremely 

important component – storing 

30% of peatland carbon. 

The most extensive tropical 

peatlands are in SE Asia and 

cover about 30 million ha of 

which over 20 million ha are 

in Indonesia and 4 million ha 

in Riau province. 

Tropical peatlands play an 

extremely important global 

role for carbon storage and 

climate moderation as well as 

providing a range of other 

benefi ts such as biodiver- 

sity, water management, and 

livelihood support to local 

communities. The fundamental 

component of peatlands 

is water. As water level decreases in 

peatlands so does capacity for sequestering 

and storing carbon. 

Current management practices 

in peatlands combined with climate 

change and variability are having a 

major negative impact on peatlands. In 

the past 10 years about 3 million ha of 

peatland in SE Asia have been burnt 

releasing 3-5 billion tonnes of carbon. 

In addition, the drainage of peat for 

oil palm and timber and pulpwood 

plantations as well as other agriculture 

and unsustainable logging is estimated 

to have affected more than 6 million 

ha and released an additional 2 billion 

tonnes of carbon over the same 

period. Thus the emission of carbon 

dioxide from peatlands in SE Asia 

represents one of the largest single 

sources of GHG emissions globally 

and is equivalent of 10% of the average 

global fossil fuel emission over the 

same period. This is accelerating global 

climate change. 

It is recognized that unsustainable 

management practices of peatlands 

Pekanbaru, 26th January 2006 

are the main cause of peat fi res and 

associated transboundary smoke haze 

in SE Asia, which have massive health, 

social, economic and environmental 

impacts. 

Subsequent El Niño events will 

increase likelihood of drought and 

associated fi res which will have a 

major negative impact on peatlands 

carbon stores and people in the SE 

Asia region. The next El Niño event is 

predicted within four years. The predicted 

changes to climate over the next 

50 years as a result of increasing GHG 

emissions, including hotter temperatures 

and changes in rainfall patterns 

combined with land use change and 

deforestation, will lead to increased 

degradation of peatlands, increased 

emissions of GHGs and further acceleration 

of climate change. 

The workshop proposed the 

following target: All stakeholders 

(including government, non-government, 

research, private sector and local 

communities) should urgently work in 

partnership to prevent peatland fi res 

and degradation. In addition, promote 

rehabilitation and sustainable use of 

peatlands in SE Asia to provide multiple 

benefi ts to the people in the region 

and safeguard the global environment. 

The workshop recommended 

relevant stakeholders to regionally and 

globally (targets particularly for Riau 

are available from the author): 

• Expedite the implementation of 

the ASEAN Peatland Management 

Strategy and associated National 

Action Plans. These should 

be complemented by plans at the 

provincial and local level in regions 

with extensive peatlands. 

• Strengthen policies and institutional 

arrangements for peatland 

management and strictly enforce 

policies and rules for the management 

and conservation of peatlands. 

• Stop the further conversion and/ 

or drainage of deep peat and peat 

domes and maintain and restore 

the hydrology of peatland systems 

to prevent fi res, minimize GHG

• 

• 

emissions, and maintain ecological 

services. 

Improve current forestry, agriculture 

and plantation management 

practices to ensure that they 

contribute to the sustainability of 

peatlands. 

Promote international cooperative 

studies to assess the role of peatlands 

in mitigating climate change 

and the potential future impacts 

• 

of climate change and land use on 

the peatland carbon pool. 

Undertake an assessment of the 

vulnerability of peatlands to climate 

change and extreme events. 

Effectively disseminate the knowledge 

generated by the scientifi c 

community for use by decision 

makers and to support the assessment 

processes and later develop 

adaptation strategies to guide 

Dutch Government Fights Fires in Kalimantan 

Almost annually, fires in 

Kalimantan destroy enormous 

areas for ever and 

cause shocking air pollution 

throughout the region. A 

network of NGO’s will start 

working to protect and restore 

these threatened areas. 

A major project aimed at the conservation 

and restoration of the peat 

swamps and their forest of Central 

Kalimantan has received the green 

light from the Netherlands’ Ministry 

of Foreign Affairs. The government of 

the Netherlands will be investing 5 million 

Euros in the coming two years on 

the basis of the “Peat Forest Amendment” 

which was passed in the Dutch 

parliament on November 14, 2004. 

The Central Kalimantan Peatlands 

Project (CKPP) will be implemented 

by four locally operating NGOs (Wetlands 

International, WWF, CARE and 

BOS), the provincial planning agency 

in Kalimantan (BAPPEDA) and 

the University of Palangkaraya. The 

project will be managed by Wetlands 

International head quarters based in 

Wageningen, the Netherlands. 

The network of environmental 

NGOs will focus on four key activities: 

1) fi re prevention, 2) restoration 

of the peatland hydrology (closing 

drainage channels to prevent drying of 

the peat soil), 3) reduction of poverty 

through small-scale developments and 

4) biodiversity conservation. Concrete 

examples of the project work are the 

closing of drainage canals to re-wet 

and re-green degraded fi re-prone areas. 

Large parts of Kalimantan consist 

of peatlands, originally mostly forest- 

ed. These tropical peat swamp forests 

are the living area for many threatened 

species. In this regard, the project will 

focus on the Sebangau National Park 

and the Mawas area which hold the 

largest remaining population of Orang 

Utan. In recent years, a large proportion 

of the peat swamp forests have 

been turned into wastelands as a result 

of deforestation, over-drainage and 

badly planned agricultural development. 

These developments made the 

area very vulnerable for fi res. Almost 

annually, huge fi res take place, destroying 

both internationally important 

nature areas and important agricultural 

and forestry assets. The fi res cause major 

air pollution problems in surrounding 

countries. In 1997 alone, peatland 

fi res in Indonesia contributed over 1 

giga ton of carbon dioxide, compara- 

• 

peatland managers, in particular 

plantation operators. 

Strengthen activities for monitoring 

changes in the status of 

tropical peatlands to guide wise 

management. � 

Faizal Parish 

Global Environment Centre 

Selangor, Malaysia 

e-mail: fparish@genet.po.my 

web: www.gecnet.info 

ble with 15% of all annual global fossil 

fuel related emissions. 

The economic damage by smoke 

and losses in the tourism & timber sectors 

were estimated at over 8.4 billion 

US$ in 1997 alone. People in the area 

suffer heavily from the fi res. About 

30% of all children under 5 years 

suffer from respiratory diseases and 

linked growth inhibition due to the air 

pollution. 

The project is a fi rst step to stop 

this disaster, protect the remaining peat 

swamp forests and to promote sustainable 

land use. � 

Marcel J. Silvius 

Wetlands International 

PO Box 471, 6700 AL Wageningen 

The Netherlands 

phone: +31 6 295 86 096 

e-mail: marcel.silvius@wetlands.org 

Replanting burned forest: Local villagers cooperate in the rehabilitation of degraded peatlands 

by planting useful indigenous peat forest species like Jelutung, which produces latex used for 

the production of chewing gum. Photo: Alue Dohong, WI 

19

Knowledge Transfer Workshop for the 

Restoration of Peatlands, Québec 

On the sometimes cold and 

oftentimes windy days 

between 3 and 10 October 

last year, the Peatland 

Ecology Research Group of 

Université Laval in Quebec 

City played host to the 

latest Knowledge Transfer 

Workshop for the Restoration 

of Peatlands. 

Participants from many countries 

around the world were present, including 

Canada, the United States, Sweden, 

Finland, Estonia, France and Ireland. 

Included in these were representatives 

from universities right through 

to industry. Breaking from tradition, 

the working language for the workshop 

was English, in an effort better to aid 

the diffusion of ideas and information 

gathered as a result of the research carried 

out by the PERG. 

The main focus of the workshop 

was the Canadian approach to peatland 

restoration as described in Peatland 

Restoration Guide: Second Edition by 


François Quinty and Line Rochefort 

(available to download from www. 

peatmoss.com/pm-restguide.php). 

However, many other interesting topics 

were discussed during other presentations 

given during the course of the 

workshop, such as those on cloudberry 

(Rubus chamaemorus) production 

(Guillaume Théroux- 

Rancourt and Mireille Bellemare), 

tree and berry bush 

plantations on residual peat 

substrates (Julie Bussières, 

Gabriel Caisse and Stéphanie 

Boudreau), the problem 

of invasive species (Claude 

Lavoie and Emmanuelle Fay), 

the restoration of fens (Martha 

Graf), peat policy and 

management in New Brunswick 

(Jacques Thibault), 

involvement of the peat industry 

in peatland restoration 

projects (Gerry Hood) and 

how a company can include 

peatland restoration practices 

with other activities involved 

in peat extraction (Jacques 

Text: Cillian Breathnach 

Photos: Susann Warnecke 

The participants of the workshop learned from Francois Quinty (front) how the straw cover 

must be applied on the Sphagnum spreadings to guarantee the best growing conditions. 

While not in the conference halls, 

fi eld trips were made to peatlands 

and to peat production facilities. At 

Premier Horticulture and Tourbières 

Berger, participants were given a tour 

of the factories and shown the methods 

used from harvest to packaging. 

Participants were also treated to an 

example of restoration procedures in 

practice following the Canadian approach 

on peatlands owned by Premier 

Horticulture at Verbois site. In addi- 

Line Rochefort, Peatland Chair of the Canadian Peatland 

Industry, was very happy to fi nd such large lumps of 

Sphagnum mosses at the Bois-de-Bel restoration site. Gagnon). 

Pitcher plant at Chemin-du-Lac.

tion, peatlands that had already undergone 

these restoration practices were 

visited at Chemin du Lac, Bois des Bel 

and Sainte-Marguerite-Marie peatlands. 

Here, the successes attained using the 

Canadian approach were showcased 

and all seemed to agree that much 

progress has been made by the PERG. 

It was also aggreed that the Canadian 

approach could be used to create possible 

donor sites for future Sphagnum 

peatland restoration projects. 

The grandeur and resplendency of 

Quebec’s maple trees shone in myriad 

shades of gold and red intermingled 

with the deep greens of various coni- 

fers along the cliff 

tops and mountains 

that lined the road 

toward Lac St. Jean. 

The hills themselves 

seemed to mirror a 

carpet of Sphagnum 

and Polytrichum, 

albeit on a larger 

scale. The timing of 

the conference could 

not have been better, 

some were overheard 

saying! 

An appreciation 

of the merits of 

Many students of the Peatland Ecology Research Group of Université 

Laval (GRET) had joined the workshop. 

Jacques Gagnon explained how Sphagnum mosses and other mire 

vegetation is extracted at a donor site. 

the Canadian 

approach was instilled 

in all. Another 

aspect that 

was greatly appreciated 

by one 

and all present 

were the meals in 

restaurants and 

snacks in the fi eld 

provided by the 

Canadian Sphagnum 

Peat Moss 

Association, 

Fafard & Frères, Premier Horticulture, 

Les Tourbes Nirom and Tourbières 

Berger. These kept the spirits (and 

more importantly, the energy levels) 

topped up. The workshop was a great 

success and many ideas and opinions 

were given and shared as well as new 

contacts and links established. The 

next workshop is eagerly awaited. � 

Cillian Breathnach 

GRET 

Université Laval, QC, Canada 

e-mail: cillian.breathnach.1@ulaval.ca 

The Bois-de-Bel area, which many IPS members visited during the Peat Congress 2000, was transformed to a beautiful living peatland. 

21

Text and photos: Gert-Jan van Duinen 

More than 130 people from 

13 European countries met 

during workshops and field 

excursions in the Netherlands 

in October 2004 and in 

Latvia and Estonia in August 

2005 to exchange expertise 

on the restoration of raised 

bogs and coastal dunes. 

Both meetings were organized by the 

University of Nijmegen and by local 

organizers within the framework of 

the LIFE Nature Co-op project “Dissemination 

of ecological knowledge 

and practical experiences for sound 

planning and management of raised 

bogs and sea dunes”. The main aim of 

this project, funded by the European 

Commission, is a better international 

exchange of expertise to help optimise 

nature conservation and restoration 

measures. 

Interdisciplinary approach 

The success rate of restoration 

projects grows with increasing insight 

Discussions and poster presentations during the coffee break. 


LIFE Co-op: Project for 

Restoration Management 

of Bogs and Dunes 

of ecosystem functioning as well as 

experience in carrying out restoration 

projects. There are, however, several 

problems and pitfalls in nature management 

that seriously hamper the 

process of increasing success. 

Apart from e.g. fi nancial, legal and 

spatial constraints, a considerable 

problem is the limited availability of 

international experience and up-to-date 

knowledge on ecosystem functioning 

to site managers who plan restoration 

measures. For instance, rewetting a 

peatland can result in further degradation 

of the area, if insuffi cient knowledge 

is available about local conditions 

or important biogeochemical processes 

affecting nutrient availability. 

Moreover, it is quite complicated 

to integrate all available information 

about the consequences of restoration 

measures for ecosystem functioning 

and for particular plant and animal species, 

let alone apply this information to 

a specifi c project area. Applying a similar 

restoration strategy in highly natural 

and heavily degraded sites will not 

always yield the optimal result and may 

have undesirable 

side-effects, e.g. 

on characteristic 

species that are 

still present. 

Integrated 

knowledge about 

the functioning 

of ecosystems 

and the demands 

plant and animal 

species pose to 

their habitat is 

required. 

Consequently, 

site managers 

may have 

diffi culty in 

determining the proper measures and 

the ‘fi ne-tuning’ necessary to bring 

about the desired habitat conservation 

or restoration in their project area. The 

results of a multi- and interdisciplinary 

approach (hydrology, biogeochemistry, 

vegetation and animal ecology) should 

be readily available for site managers to 

enable them to work with an optimal 

restoration strategy. 

Workshop and excursions 

People involved in nature management, 

policy making and scientifi c research in 

different disciplines participated in the 

workshops and fi eld excursions. The 

second workshop started on 22 August 

2005 in Jūrmala, Latvia, with welcome 

and opening addresses by Ivars Kabucis, 

chairman of the board of the 

Latvian Fund for Nature and Robert 

Schuddeboom, ambassador of the 

Netherlands in Latvia. Both stressed 

the importance of international cooperation. 

The second and third days were 

spent on fi eld excursions. The ‘dune 

people’ spent both days at sites along 

the Latvian west coast that are included 

in the LIFE-Nature project “Protection 

and management of coastal habitats 

in Latvia”, led by Brigita Laime, 

Vija Znotiņa and their colleagues from 

the University of Latvia. The ‘bog 

people’ visited Cena Mire and Ķemeri 

Mire on 23 August, led by Māra Pakalne, 

project leader of the LIFE-Nature 

project “Implementation of mire 

habitat management plan for Latvia”, 

and her colleagues of the Latvian Fund 

for Nature. 

The next day was dedicated to 

conservation and restoration of bog 

landscapes in the transboundary area 

of North-Livonia. Here, the Estonian

Ramsar sites at Nigula and Sookuninga 

Nature Reserves were visited, guided 

by Agu Leivits, Anneli Roosalu and 

their colleagues from Nigula Nature 

Reserve Administration. 

On 25 August, the bog and dune 

people re-united in Kabli, Estonia, 

for the plenary and parallel sessions 

in which site managers and scientists 

presented their practical experience 

and current ecological knowledge. 

These presentations are available at the 

project website. Various topics were 

discussed: threats leading to degradation 

of bog or dune habitats (e.g. 

increased atmospheric nitrogen deposition, 

drainage and fragmentation), 

practical use of scientifi c knowledge, 

setting proper objectives in restoration 

projects, planning and performance of 

conservation and restoration measures, 

and alternative strategies to restore 

habitats. 

The last joint part of the program 

was the Friday afternoon excursion 

to Luitemaa Nature Reserve, led by 

Marika and Mati Kose of the Estonian 

Ornithological Society. This area includes 

both coastal dunes and a raised 

bog. Here, restoration measures were 

undertaken within the framework of 

the LIFE-Nature project “Restoration 

and management of the Häädemeeste 

wetland complex”. 

Thirty-four people participated in 

the post-workshop-tour on the beautiful 

Estonian islands Saaremaa and 

Hiiumaa that was organized by Elve 

Lode, Urve Ratas and Kadri Vilumaa 

from the Institute of Ecology Tallinn. 

Discussing effects of drainage on hollow vegetation in Cena mire. 

Table 1. The PROMME-approach, a checklist containing six essential steps for nature 

restoration projects in order to avoid pitfalls. 

The workshops have also contributed 

to further cooperation and exchange 

of expertise in other projects. 

Last year, for example, people involved 

in the Polish LIFE-Nature project 

“Conservation of Baltic raised bogs 

in Pomerania” visited Latvian and Estonian 

bogs and Dutch experts joined 

their Lithuanian colleagues to discuss 

optimal restoration strategies for the 

degraded bog landscape in Zuvintas 

Nature Reserve. Danish, English and 

Dutch site managers and scientists did 

the same last March at the bog landscape 

of Lille Vildmose in Denmark. 

Decision support system 

In addition to both workshops and 

succeeding meetings, experience and 

ecological knowledge is disseminated 

by means of a digital decision support 

system, with practical guidelines for 

measures to help site managers and advisers 

take the proper steps in planning 

and restoration management. Without 

23

Participants of the workshop in Jurmala. 

ignoring the importance of socio-economic 

aspects, the system and guidelines 

focus on the ecological aspects of 

restoration management. 

Based on common sense and experience, 

the PROMME-approach (Table 

1) was adopted by the participants of 

both workshops as a useful framework 

for the setting-up of restoration 

projects. PROMME is meant to check 

for pitfalls in the restoration process 

and the decision support system gives 

access to information that shows how 

to avoid them. 

Although this system can not itself 

provide a complete design for each 

specifi c situation, it does provide the 

user with the ecological information 

necessary to design and carry out a 

restoration project on a specifi c site. 

First, the system encourages the user 

to make a profound analysis of the 

problem and its causes. If there is 

insuffi cient knowledge to defi ne the 

problem and the causal factors behind 

it properly, the system helps to identify 

knowledge gaps and suggests how to 

fi ll these gaps. 

Based on the problems and their 

causes, as well as the opportunities 

and limiting factors in and around the 


project area, the user has to defi ne 

clear and realistic restoration objectives. 

Again, the support system helps 

to avoid pitfalls. Sometimes the measure 

itself (e.g. raising and stabilising the 

water table) is presented as an objective. 

In such projects there is a risk that 

restoration is declared successful when 

the measure is carried out in the right 

way (the water table is raised and more 

stable), irrespective of the effects on 

the functioning of the ecosystem and 

biodiversity. 

In the next step, potential restoration 

measures are presented, with 

information on positive and negative 

(side-) effects. Recommendations for 

monitoring programs are given and 

fi nally practical information necessary 

for the implementation of the measures 

is presented. This includes notes 

on the intensity and spatial scale of 

the measures adopted and feedback 

between monitoring results and the 

implementation of the measures introduced. 

An easy access to the essential 

literature or practical examples is provided 

at different steps in the decision 

support system. 

Sphagnum and more 

Restoration of degraded raised bogs 

generally focuses on retaining rain 

water to create suitable conditions for 

Sphagnum recovery. However, the success 

rate of rewetting methods (inundation 

or paludifi cation, rain water or 

groundwater) depends on the baseline 

conditions. The growth of Sphagnum 

depends not only on stable, high water 

tables, but also on nutrient poor water 

that contains enough carbon dioxide. 

Restoration measures will fail unless all 

essential conditions are met. 

Although a well developed Sphagnum 

vegetation is a prerequisite for a 

functioning raised bog, a bog system 

is more than wetness and Sphagnum. 

Research has shown that populations 

of rare and characteristic invertebrate 

species that have been able to persist 

in degraded bog remnants can respond 

negatively to rapid and large-scale 

rewetting. If such relic populations 

are still present in a project area, the 

restoration strategy should safeguard 

them, as they are the remaining sources 

for colonisation of rewetted sites. 

Furthermore, large-scale rewetting 

that is limited to retaining rain water 

generally results in similar changes on 

a large scale, leading to environmental 

homogeneity. Restoration of the 

regional hydrological system, including 

groundwater, may rehabilitate the 

heterogeneity in both ombrotrophic 

and more minerotrophic parts of 

bog landscapes. This heterogeneity is 

required to rehabilitate the plant and 

animal diversity of raised bogs. This 

kind of considerations is included in 

the decision support system. It is freely 

accessible at the project website. 

Do you have additional expertise, 

information, literature or practical 

examples that could help further to 

improve restoration projects? Please inform 

the project team: Emiel Brouwer, 

Gert-Jan van Duinen, Hans Esselink 

and Marijn Nijssen. � 

Gert-Jan van Duinen 

Radboud University Nijmegen 

Department of Animal Ecology 

Nijmegen, the Netherlands 

g.vanduinen@science.ru.nl 

www.barger.science.ru.nl/life

Wise Use and Restoration of 

Peatlands in Poland 

Invitation to a fi ve-day excursion in August 2006 

Following the 5th European 

Conference on Ecological 

Restoration, which will be 

held in Greifswald between 

22 and 25 August 2006, 

there will be a unique opportunity 

to travel across 

Poland focusing on peatland 

and mire landscapes. 

The organisers of the trip, “Wise Use 

and restoration of peatlands in Poland”, 

have included in the programme 

sites representative for almost all-possible 

stages of development, management, 

degradation and restoration of 

Central European peatlands. 

The trip has been organised by the 

Polish NGO “Save Wetlands”, with the 

patronage of International Peat Society 

(IPS), International Mire Conservation 

Group (IMCG) and Society for 

Ecological Restoration International, 

Chapter Europe (SERI), all of whom 

have also been involved in the organi- 

sation of the conference sessions 

on peatland restoration. 

Programme in short 

The trip starts in the country 

of scattered bogs and 

fens in the hilly landscape of 

north-west Poland, where 

well-preserved mires neighbour 

degraded ones, and active 

restoration projects have 

been ongoing for a number 

of years. Then you will see 

the Noteć River Valley with its 

large areas of fens that have 

been reclaimed for more than 

200 years and, since then, managed 

by relatively intensive 

agriculture. What are the measures to 

minimise the environmental losses in 

such systems? 

The next points of the trip are the 

pearls of Polish mires: virgin fens 

of the Rospuda Valley and the best 

preserved seminatural fens of the Bie- 

Meadow with Polygonum bistorta at Calowanie Fen, habitat for one of the largest populations 

of the butterfl y Lycaena helle in Poland. 

Text: Line Rochefort 

Photos: Paulina Dzierza 

The stork (Ciconia ciconia), here on a Calthion meadow 

near the village of Podbiel, is a rare species in Western 

Europe, but a common bird in Poland. 

brza Valley. Here, the organisers raise 

important conservation questions: why 

do some areas maintain high biodiversity 

without any human intereference, 

whereas others require high-cost 

vegetation management to prevent 

succession? How should this management 

be organised and implemented? 

What costs should the community pay 

to preserve such sites? 

We continue the excursion passing 

through the reclaimed Wizna fen 

– one of the largest land reclamation 

projects carried out in Poland during 

the communist time. What is the fate 

of such systems, designed for largescale 

collective farming, in the contemporary 

Poland? What are the effects 

of past drainage on biodiversity and 

agricultural use? What are the restoration 

prospects? 

The excursion concludes near 

Warsaw, where peatland biodiversity 

suffers not only from the past drainage 

and intensive use but also from the 

current pressure of the growing city. 

What should be the conservation and 

restoration strategies in such land- 

25

scapes? Are they different from those 

in remote areas? In Całowanie Fen, we 

will see the effects of pilot restoration 

projects and discuss their ecological 

and economical feasibility. 

Sightseeing included 

During the trip, the organisers also offer 

cultural and historical attractions. 

Visits in the Osowiec Fortress in the 

Biebrza Valley and sightseeing in Warsaw 

are some of them. For those keen 

on water adventures there is canoeing 

in the Rospuda river, whereas for mire 

walkers there are wet-foot hikes on the 

wild tracks in Biebrza Fens. 

Aim of the excursion 

The organisers hope to enhance onspot 

discussion on the limits of human 

interference in peatlands and on the 

prospects for their sustainable future, 

especially in the context of their multifunctional 

use and multiple needs of 

the society. The fi eld guidance will be 

offered by restoration practitioners and 

peatland scientists. 

More information online 

The full programme, as well as the 

organisational and fi nancial details, are 

available at: www.uni-greifswald.de/ 

SER2006/excursion_poland.html. 

Persons not participating in the 

Greifswald conference on Ecological 

Restoration may also subscribe for the 

excursion but in case of overbooking 

the conference participants have priority. 

� 

Organizing committee: 

Wiktor Kotowski, Line Rochefort, 

Lech Szajdak, Edyta Waniek 

Patronage: IPS, IMCG, SERI-Europe 

Organisation: Save Wetlands 

Association 

Contact: 

Paulina Dzierza 

Save Wetlands Association 

Raszynska 32/44 m. 140 

02-026 Warsaw, Poland 

Phone: +48 22 498 18 99 

Fax +48 22 499 72 15 

Skype: cmok_2001 

pdzierza@gazeta.pl 


In memoriam 

Dr. Roy L. Ingram 

Roy Lee Ingram, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA, died October 3, 2005. 

Dr. Ingram was a long time member of the IPS and was well known in the 

United States for his research and publications dealing with North Carolina 


He was born March 12, 1921 in Mamers, North Carolina. He attended 

the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1937-1941, graduating 

with a B.S. in Geology. He then went to the University of Oklahoma, earning 

a M.S. in Geology in 1942, before entering the U.S. Army Air Corps. After 

serving as a captain in the European Theater of Operations, he returned 

to the United States, attending the University of Wisconsin, attaining a Ph.D. 

in Geology in 1948. 

He began his career as a Professor of Geology at the University of North 

Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1947 where he remained until retiring in 1991. 

During that time he served two terms as chairman of the Department. 

From the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s, Dr. Ingram devoted much 

of his time to estimating and characterizing the peat resources of North 

Carolina. His background in sedimentology added much to the development 

of methods of investigating peat deposits. The culmination of his peat efforts 

appear in “Peat deposits of North Carolina,” published by the North 

Carolina Geological Survey. 

Dr. Roy Ingram will remain in our memory as an excellent colleague who 

contributed much to the understanding of the nature and properties of 

peatlands in the southeastern United States. 

Henry W. (Harry) Fraser 

Henry “Harry” Walker Fraser, 66, of Fort Gratiot, passed away at home, 

Tuesday, January 17, 2006, in the company of his family, after a lengthy battle 

with cancer. He was born in Southampton, England July 31, 1939. Harry 

spent his early years in Glasgow, Scotland. He married Elizabeth “Beth” 

McBain in 1963. Harry and Beth with their two daughters, Amanda and Gillian 

moved to Canada. They have lived in Fort Gratiot for the last twenty 

years. With his wit and “off-beat” sense of humor, Harry touched the lives 

of all who knew him. He was well loved and will be sadly missed. He is survived 

by his loving wife, Beth; and daughters, Amanda and Gillian, as well as 

extended family in Canada and Scotland. 

Harry Fraser was former Operations Manager of the Michigan Peat company 

and previous to that an operation Manager for the past Western Peat Moss 

Company in one of their operations located east of Winnipeg, Manitoba, 

Canada. He attended many IMPS functions starting with the 6th Congress in 

Duluth. On a post Congress trip to the Winnipeg area, we visited the operation 

that he managed. Some of the participants, might remember him. He 

attended the two Symposiums held in Duluth as well as those held in Athlone, 

Ireland and Sheffi eld, England and others. As Michigan Peat had one 

operation in Minnesota, Harry was a frequent visitor and also a member of 

the Minnesota Peat Association. As his obituary stated, he had a great sense 

of humor and his Scottish accent was great. He will be sadly missed. 

Don Grubich and Tom Malterer

Professor Doctor Honoris Causa 

Tomasz Józef Brandyk Text: Lech Szajdak 

On 5 October 2005, 

Prof. Tomasz Brandyk, 2nd 

Vice President of IPS, was 

awarded a degree of Doctor 

Honoris Causa of the 

Agricultural University of 

Wrocław. 

Prof. Brandyk was born in Bydgoszcz, 

Poland in 1951. In 1974, he graduated 

from the Faculty of Engineering and 

Environmental Sciences at Warsaw 

Agricultural University, Poland. Since 

his graduation, he has been working 

in the Department of Environmental 

Development at Warsaw Agricultural 

University. 

Throughout his career, he held the 

scientifi c positions of assistant, assistant 

professor, associate professor and 

full professor. He has published and 

coauthored about 400 scientifi c papers 

and he has also written 8 books in 

many countries. Moreover, Prof. Brandyk 

has given over 20 lectures during 

numerous international conferences 

and congresses as well as 12 invited 

lectures at different foreign universities. 

He was granted long-term scholarships 

in the Agronomy Department at 

Iowa State University in the USA and 

at the Institute for Land and Water 

Management Research in Wageningen 

in the Netherlands. In addition he held 

a position of researcher at the Civil 

Engineering Department of University 

College Dublin in Ireland. He also contributed 

much to several universities 

and scientifi c institutions in Austria, 

Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, the 

Netherlands, Turkey and the United 

States. His scientifi c interests are focused 

on the following aspects: 

• impact of irrigation and drainage 

on the physical parameters of 

soils, 

• methods of measuring soil parameters 

in the unsaturated zone, 

• aspects of moisture control for 

soils with shallow groundwater 

levels, 

• use of mathematical modelling in 

soil water management, 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

importance of soil moisture in climate 

modelling, 

water management for protection 

and restoration of transformed 

peat-moorsh soils, 

analysis of water movement in 

organic soils with changing geometry, 

studies of shrinkage behaviour 

and the geometry factor in peat 

soils, 

infl uence of physical properties 

on moisture retention and 

subsidence in peat soils and the 

disappearance of peat deposits in 

relation to drainage and climatic 

conditions. 

Prof. Brandyk has also addressed the 

scientifi c topics mentioned above by 

active participation in international research 

programs as a coordinator, main 

performer and an executor. 

From 1993 to 1999, Prof. Brandyk 

held the post of Dean at the Faculty of 

Engineering and Environmental Sciences 

at Warsaw Agricultural University. 

Since 2000, he has been the head 

of the Department of Environmental 

Development at Warsaw Agricultural 

University. 

In 2002 he was elected as a corresponding 

member of the Polish 

Academy of 

Sciences, and 

the following 

year he was 

chosen as the 

Vice Chair of 

the Division V 

- Agronomy, 

Forestry, and 

Veterinary Sciences 

of the 

Academy. 

Prof. Brandyk 

plays an invaluable 

role in 

the activities of 

Polish and foreign 

scientifi c 

organizations 

and committees 

for example in 

the IPS and its Polish National Committee, 

which he chaired during 2000 

to 2004. At the same time, he was a 

member of the Executive Board and 

Chairman of IPS Commission III. In 

2004, he was elected 2nd Vice-President 

of IPS and Chair of the Scientifi c 

Advisory Board of IPS. 

Prof. Brandyk is an Editorial Board 

member of several Polish and international 

scientifi c journals including 

Peatlands International. 

Beside his intensive involvement 

in IPS’s activities, he also participates 

in the Polish Central Commission 

for Scientifi c Titles and Degrees, the 

Polish Soil Science Society and the 

Polish Commission of Irrigation and 

Drainage. In addition, he is a member 

of the Scientifi c Councils of the 

Institute of Agrophysics in Lublin, 

the Institute for Land Reclamation 

and Grassland Farming in Falenty and 

the Research Centre for Agricultural 

and Forest Environment of the Polish 

Academy of Sciences in Poznań. 

Prof. Dr. h. c. Tomasz Józef Brandyk 

is an outstanding specialist who 

has made an innovative contribution to 

water management and the protection 

of peat soils. � 

Aula Leopoldinum in Wroclaw, Prof. Tomasz Brandyk is being awarded 

a degree of Doctor Honoris Causa. Photo: Orest Zagwojski 

27

World leader in biofuels 

Vapo has pellet production facilities in 

Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia. 

Total production capacity is over 500,000 

tonnes. 

The product range consists of wood 

pellets, peat pellets, cat litter wood pellets 

and industrial wood and peat briquettes. 

The pellets are available in bulk, big bags, 

and small bags for retail. 

Vapo Pellets are produced according to 

rigorous quality criteria in carefully con- 

trolled conditions. 

The network of pellet plants, extensive 

storage capacity and flexible logistics ensure 

that Vapo can provide reliable deliveries all 

over Europe. 

Vapo seeks to work with its customers 

to build solid, long-term business relationships. 

It already has more than 60 years of 

experience as a producer and supplier of 

biofuels. 


Vildbjerg 

Vapo Pellets 

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Plant of Vapo Group Partner´s Plant 

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Kärsämäki 

Vöyri 

Ylistaro 

Ilomantsi 

Haukineva 

Kaskinen 

Parkano 

Juupajoki 

Vammala 

Turenki 

Tootsi 

Riga

The nature guide to the 

Polish Biebrza Marshes 

The Biebrza Marshes, the best-preserved 

extensive peat bog area in 

Central Europe, is surely worth the attention 

of all lovers of unspoilt nature. 

Low moors, in the form of woodless 

mires as well as sedges and rushes, 

dominate the wetland valley of the 

Biebrza River (NE Poland). Raised and 

transitional moors as well as marshy 

forests and meadows can also be found 

there. Over 950 species of vascular 

plants testify to the richness of the 

fl ora, which includes 59 species under 

protection as well as 50 species entered 

in the “Polish Red Data Book of 

Plants”. Since 1993, this area has been 

protected as the Biebrza National Park 

– the largest National Park in Poland 

(59 223 ha), and in 1995 it was entered 

on the list of areas subject to protection 

under the Ramsar Convention. 

The Biebrza Marshes are already well 

known among professional ornithologists 

and amateur bird watchers. The 

book described here proves that this 

area also has many more natural attractions 

related to the non-regulated 

“wild” river and extensive peatlands. 

The nature guidebook under discussion 

is a joint publication of members 

of the Crossbill Guides Foundation 

from Nijmegen in the Netherlands 

(main author – Dirk Hilbers). The 

foundation began publishing guidebooks 

on the most interesting natural 

regions in Europe with this volume 

(2005). Aside from “Biebrza Marshes”, 

“The nature guide to the Bialowieza 

Primeval Forest (Poland)”, “The nature 

guide to the Coto Doñana and surrounding 

coastal lowlands (Spain)” and 

“The nature guide to the Extremadura 

(Spain)” were also published, and work 

is underway on subsequent volumes 

(Camargue, La Crau and Les Alpilles, 

France). 

The purpose of this new series of 

guidebooks is to provide reliable and 

Text: Andrzej Lachacz 

current information to various types of 

ambitious tourists and nature enthusiasts. 

However, the authors had more 

in mind than simply describing natural 

occurrences, as they also took on the 

challenge of clarifying the quintessence 

of ecosystem processes. They show 

the interrelations between abiotic and 

biotic environmental components by 

means of practical examples, as well 

as relations between certain species of 

plants and animals. 

The book has 107 pages, is light 

and can be easily taken along even on 

lengthy hikes. The book is divided into 

three sections: landscape, fl ora and 

fauna, followed by a practical section. 

The fi rst part (41 pages) provides basic 

information on the Biebrza Marshes 

and their surroundings (landscape, 

Biebrza river hydrology, various types 

of peat bogs, forests and other ecosystems, 

as well as history, historical 

buildings and monuments and nature 

protection). A detailed description is 

provided of peat bog ecosystems and 

their relation to hydrology as well as 

the characteristic diagonal (transversal) 

and longitudinal ecological zonality of 

the Biebrza River valley. This zonality, 

with water conditions unchanged by 

human activity, represents the uniqueness 

of the Biebrza Marshes. 

The next 17 pages describe fl ora 

and fauna. In addition to mammals and 

birds, for which this region is wellknown, 

amphibians, reptiles, insects 

and other invertebrates are also included. 

The third section of the book 

provides practical information on, 

among other things, accommodation 

and transport related to sites worth visiting 

as well as recommendations with 

respect to the behaviour of tourists in 

contact with nature. The book then 

describes 9 routes, including 5 tracks 

for walkers, 2 canoe routes, 1 to be 

covered by car and 1 possible to cover 

on foot, by bike or by car. All routes 

are described in a uniform manner and 

include a description of the course 

with the most important nature attractions 

indicated on schematic maps. 

The book includes a glossary 

clarifying diffi cult terms, as well as a 

list of animal and plant species names, 

which include their scientifi c names 

and equivalents in English, German 

and Dutch. The book includes many 

interesting colour photos presenting 

landscape as well as plants and animals. 

These pictures are an encouragement 

to visit the described locations. Due 

to the small format of the book, it is 

not a photo album, but the photos are 

a practical help in identifying areas of 

natural value. 

The guidebook will undoubtedly 

help increase interest in the Biebrza 

Marshes, which are permanently included 

on the map of Europe’s nature 

attractions. It also fulfi ls an educational 

role by familiarizing tourists with various 

aspects of the functioning of peat 

bog ecosystems. It is a good example 

of how much information can be gathered 

and presented in an attractive and 

concise form. � 

The nature guide to the Biebrza 

Marshes (Poland). Crossbill Guides 

Foundation, Nijmegen, and KNNV 

Publishing, Utrecht, the Netherlands, 

2005. 107 pp. ISBN 90 5011 2099 

www.crossbillguides.org 

www.knnvpublishing.nl 

29

Symposium “Mountain and Upland 

Peatlands” in Poland 

A symposium on “Mountain 

and Upland Peatlands” was 

held in Kielce - Biale Lugi 

on 21 to 22 June 2004. The 

main objective of the event 

organized by the Institute 

of Geography and the Institute 

of Biology of the 

Swietokrzyski University in 

Kielce, was to introduce the 

results of studies conducted 

in the Biale Lugi Peat Reserve 

to a broad group of Polish 

peatland researchers, all 

members of the Polish National 

Committee of the IPS. 

During plenary and poster sessions, 

the participants had an opportunity to 

present the results of their studies in 

different regions: the Sudety Mountains, 

Roztocze, Lublin Upland, Volyn 

Upland, Przedborz Upland, Silesia 

Upland, Miechów Upland, Racibórz 

Basin, Tuchola Forests, Polanowska 

Plateau and Bialystok Plateau. A few 

studies of mires outside of Poland 

were presented either as a lecture - the 

Upper Harz region, or as published ab- 


stracts - the Petersburg region (Kobak 

K., Krankina O.), the Gulf of Finland 

(Smagin V.A.), the Ukrainian Beskid 

Mountains (Kalinovych N.) and the 

carbonate bogs of Poland and Slovakia 

(Wolejko L.). 

Three presentations covered more 

general issues, such as the terminology 

used to defi ne wetlands (Bajkiewicz- 

Grabowska E.), high and transitional 

moors of southern Poland (Wozniak 

N.), and an assessment of the accumulation 

rate of Holocene biogenic 

deposits (Krupinski K.). On 21 June 

2004, four plenary and one poster sessions 

took place in the Senate Hall of 

the Swietokrzyski University, followed 

by an informal evening meeting around 

the dinner table. 

Field trip 

On 22 June, a trip to the Biale Lugi 

bog was organized. At the top of the 

dune, towering over a fl at-toppedmound 

of a raised bog dominated by 

phytocenoses of Ledo-Sphagnetum 

magellanici and Sphagnetum magel- 

Biale Lugi bog, a Sphagnetum magellanici association. In the central part, S. Zurek and P. 

Gwiazda are boring in the mire. On the right is Dr D. Urban. 

Text and photos: Slawomir Zurek 

lanici, the botanists and zoologists of 

the Swietokrzyski University reviewed 

the current state of the fl ora and fauna 

of the mire: vegetation (Przemyski A., 

PhD), lichens (Prof. Cieslinski S.), fungi 

(Luszczynski J. PhD), bumble-bees 

(Bak J., PhD), amphibians and reptiles 

(Ichniowska-Korpula B., PhD) and 

mammals (Wypiórkiewicz J., PhD). 

The stratigraphy of the peatland 

was presented by Prof. S. Zurek 

followed by the presentation of P. 

Gwiazda, MSc, a member of the Student 

Geographers’ Scientifi c Society 

of the Swietokrzyski University, who 

described the studies of two stratigraphic 

cross-sections, one from the 

central part of a raised bog, and the 

other from a region of fen with alder 

woods and riverside carrs. The latter 

cuts across the Czarna River, which 

overfl ows due to fl ooding caused by 

beaver. A 3.5 m deep bore, in the 

central part of the mire, disclosed the 

characteristic strata of the profi le: 

slightly decomposed raised bog peat 

(0.4 m), highly decomposed cottongrass 

peat (70-80% decomposition) 

with layers indicating fi res (0.7 m), 

medium decomposed transition bog 

peat (1.4 m) and slightly decomposed 

sedge-moss peat (0.8 m) deposited in 

the Younger Dryas (315-320 cm layers, 

dated 10880±250 BP acc. to radiocarbon 

dating) overlying a layer of loam 

and sand with gravel. After the presentation, 

the participants walked around 

the peatland and searched for familiar 

species of plants. The seminar ended 

in the afternoon and the participants 

were transported to Kielce. 

All printed materials, including the 

book “Biale Lugi Peat Reserve”, were 

handed out before the lectures. 

Presentations 

The presentations on 21 June took 

place during four plenary sessions, two 

in the morning and two in the afternoon, 

followed by a poster session.

During the fi rst session, E. Bajkiewicz- 

Grabowska lectured on terminology 

such as “swamp”, “marsh”, “wetland” 

and “peatland” from the point of 

view of a hydrologist. K. Szczepanek 

brought to attention issues related to 

the Biale Lugi peat bog, which need to 

be further investigated: interruptions in 

peat sedimentation, burning and plant 

succession. M. Nita and K. Wójcicki, 

from the Institute of Geography, 

Silesian University, presented a paleohydrological 

reconstruction of the 

Holocene in the Racibórz Basin based 

on pollen analysis and C-14 dating 

of old river-bed profi les of the Ruda, 

Klonica and Osloboga Valleys and distinguished 

the phases of ground water 

lowering during the Atlantic period 

and the rise in the Subboreal period. 

K. Tomaszewska dealt with the results 

of stratigraphic studies of Izera Valley 

mires, the subject of her post-doctoral 

(habilitation) dissertation. Most of the 

subfossil phytocenoses are identical 

with the current communities in this 

area. The initiation of swamping is an 

effect of invasion of swampy spruce 

associations. 

The second session was opened 

with a very interesting lecture by K. 

Tobolski on the Upper Harz mountain 

mires, based on the works of Jensen 

and Beug and on his own observations. 

The geological structure of peatlands 

and pollen analyses were strongly emphasized. 

J. Klementowski described in 

detail the role of cryogenic processes 

in the morphogenesis of subalpine 

mires in the Karkonosze Mountains, 

and disputed their classifi cation as 

palsa mires by Czech researchers. 

During the fi rst afternoon session, 

A. Cedro presented the results of 

dendroclimatic studies of pine-wooded 

raised bog and pinewood morasses of 

Biale Lugi. The width curve of pinetree 

radial growth of the 1851 to 2001 

period showed that precipitation and 

temperature conditions during winter 

and at the beginning of spring shaped 

annual growth. L. Wolejko characterized 

carbonate habitats of northern 

Poland and Slovakia such as: carbonate 

mires, montane alkaline mire-springs 

and petrifi cating springs. 

N. Wozniak, a PhD student of the 

Silesian University, investigated 40 

profi les of raised 

bogs and 6 profi les 

of transitional 

bogs from uplands 

and mountains in 

Poland, using dates 

based on pollen 

analysis and C-14 

dating. He identifi 

ed 5 basic types 

of succession for 

raised bogs and 2 

types for transitional 

bogs. He 

described the process 

of initiation of 

raised and transitional 

deposits, 

which started in 

the Atlantic period. 

B. Lorens characterized peat-forming 

vegetation communities in the Roztocze 

National Park. 

During the fi nal afternoon session, 

M. Nita and M. Ludwikowska-Kedzia 

described the vegetation of the Mazovian 

interglacial at a depth of 12.8-9.4 

m in the outskirts of the Biale Lugi 

peat bog. This is the fi rst locality of 

this interglacial from the Sietokrzyski 

Mountains. T. Molenda introduced the 

participants to the interesting issue of 

the swamping of excavated holes and 

fi sh ponds in the Silesian Upland. The 

presentations of the authors who did 

not attend the seminar (N. Kalinovych, 

T. Jurkovskaja, Z. Osadowski, L. 

Kucharski) were replaced by K. Lipka’s 

lecture on the accumulation of peat 

and gyttja in the Niedzica River Valley 

in the Miechów Upland, and by K. 

Krupinski’s presentation on an assessment 

of the accumulation rate of 

Holocene biogenic deposits. Until now, 

the compaction processes and the water 

content of deposits have not been 

taken into consideration during such 

assessment. Therefore the calculated, 

mean rate of accumulation, based on 

deposit thickness and radiocarbon 

analysis, is burdened with error, which 

is signifi cant in some cases. 

Poster session 

During a one-hour poster session, the 

authors presented their results and 

materials. D. Drzymulska summarized 

Biale Lugi bog with Dr A. Lachacz, Dr J. Luszczynski and Dr M. 

Kloss (left to right). 

a paleobotanical study of the Bialystok 

Plateau, mainly mires of the Knyszynska 

Primeval Forest (Machnacz, Stare 

Biele) and Taboly, Kladkowe Bagno 

and Borki (studies included in her PhD 

dissertation). M. Kloss and S. Zurek 

recorded similarities and differences 

between fossil vegetation succession in 

extensive upland bogs, like Biale Lugi, 

and montane mire (Zieleniec in the 

Bystrzycki Mountains). M. Obremska 

and K. Tobolski showed new pollen diagrams 

of peatlands located in the Tuchola 

Forests, dominated by kettle-hole 

mires, and lakeside and riverside peat 

bogs. J. Pokorny and Z. Golab talked 

about the wetlands of Ziemia Klodzka. 

D. Urban, I. Milosz, R. Blaszczyk and 

M. Slawinski described the peatlands 

of Pagóry Chelmskie in the Chodelka 

River Valley and in the Lublin Upland. 

Conclusion 

The seminar went very well under 

the supervision of the secretary Jerzy 

Wypiórkiewicz, PhD and Iwona Wolinska, 

MSc. The participants expressed 

the opinion that such regional meetings 

should be continued in the future. � 

Slawomir Zurek 

Institute of Geography 

Swietokrzyska Academy 

Swietokrzyska 15 

PL-25-406 Kielce, Poland 

e-mail: jacekteofi l@tlen.pl 

31

International Meeting on Cloudberry 

Cultivation in Baie-Comeau, Québec 

On 13 September 2005, 

a meeting on cloudberry 

cultivation was held at Baie- 

Comeau, on the North Shore 

of the St-Lawrence River, in 

Quebec, Canada. 

Researchers from Canada and Norway 

were invited to share their knowledge 

on cloudberry cultivation. This included 

plantations on cut-over peatlands as 

well as the improvement of established 

populations in natural habitats. 

Cloudberry grows in boreal 

peatlands, and its berries have been 

harvested and transformed for a 

long time, especially in Scandinavian 

countries. However, so far, the species 

has not been cultivated on a large scale. 

In response to an increasing interest 

by local populations to cultivate this 

species and an increasing demand on 

the market, several research projects on 

cloudberry have recently been initiated 

in Canada, Finland and Norway. Since 

this species does not reveal its cultivation 

secrets easily to researchers, a 

Cloudberry fruit. 


meeting on cloudberry cultivation was 

organised last fall to exchange information 

on the latest fi ndings. 

International audience 

Sixteen participants took part in the 

meeting comprising managers from 

two peat companies (Berger and 

Premier Horticulture, Canada), six 

researchers from Laval University 

(Canada), two specialists from provincial 

governments (New-Brunswick 

and Québec), three researchers 

from Les Buissons Research Centre 

(Canada), and fi nally three researchers 

from the Holt, Kvithamar and 

Apelsvoll (Norway) Research Centres. 

Research leaders in cloudberry cultivation 

of each country present were Dr. 

Line Lapointe from Laval University 

(Québec, Canada) and Dr. Inger Martinussen 

from Holt Research Centre 

(Tromsø, Norway); leader in peatland 

ecology and management Dr. Line 

Rochefort (Laval University, Canada), 

in Rubus breeding Dr. Kristine Naess 

(Les Buissons Research 

Centre), and 

in pollination Dr. 

Adam Brown. 

The meeting 

included site visits 

and oral presentations. 

After tasting 

some cloudberry 

chocolates made by 

a local producer of 

Baie-Comeau, we 

visited the on-going 

experiments sponsored 

by FQRNT 

(a Québec funding 

agency) and by Les 

Tourbières Berger, 

Premier Horticulture 

and Les 

Buissons Research 

Text: Julie Bussières, Line 

Lapointe and Line Rochefort 

Photos: Jin Zhou 

Centre that have been set up in a large 

peatland at Pointe-Paradis, nearby 

Baie-Comeau. 

Cloudberry establishment in 

cut-over peatlands: lessons 

learned 

A series of trials testing optimal water 

table depth, peat type, rhizome length, 

planting depth and time of plantation 

as well as the effects of wind breaks 

and Sphagnum mulching was established 

in spring 2004. In some of those 

trials, rhizomes of the two female cultivars 

developed in Norway were compared 

with two Canadian clones collected 

in peatlands in New Brunswick 

and in Québec. The best establishment 

was observed with the Norwegian cultivar, 

Fjorgull, but overall, survival of 

the transplanted rhizomes was low. 

The meeting was thus a good 

opportunity to set up a list of possible 

explanations as well as potential 

avenues of research for improvement. 

Among explanations, we can mention 

the possible compaction of the peat 

while preparing the site for plantation, 

which would reduce the oxygenation 

of the rhizomes. However, trials of the 

Norwegian cultivars in Norway also 

led to poor survival rates when planted 

as rhizomes although compaction did 

not seem to be an issue. The researchers 

are more and more convinced that 

15 cm of rhizomes at transplantation 

might be too short to support shoot 

growth. Adding to this, the rhizome 

segments of the Canadian clones were 

maybe too old to produce new shoots. 

Norwegian researchers also pointed 

out the possibility that the water table 

might have been too high at the plantation 

site in spring and fall, although 

it was quite low during summer time. 

Better water management should be 

pursued in the future. These experi-

All participants in the Cloudberry meeting are grouped around Guillaume Théroux-Rancourt for further explanations. After planting cloudberry 

rhizomes on a section of cut-over peatland, Sphagnum moss was spread over the plot and covered with straw to prevent dehydration of the 

moss. Although this technique has been successfully used to re-establish a Sphagnum carpet, it does not seem to be a promising method on 

which to establish cloudberry. 

ments are carried out by Guillaume 

Théroux-Rancourt and Mireille Bellemare, 

both M.Sc. students at Laval 

University. 

A new trial was set up during the 

summer 2005 to mimic the semi-forested 

pine bogs of Finland, where, naturally, 

cloudberry exhibits its highest 

productivity. Here, on a cut-over area 

replanted with larch saplings, rhizomes 

and plugs of cloudberry will be planted. 

The usefulness of 

planting well rooted 

plants as opposed to 

naked rhizomes will 

be estimated as well 

as the benefi ts of this 

semi-forested condition 

with respect to 

winter snow accumulation 

and protection 

against spring frosts. 

Improving 

yield in natural 

populations 

Cloudberry fl ourishes 

along ditches in cutover 

peatlands. At 

the Premier cut-over 

site, different foliar 

fertilisation regimes 

are being tested by 

the Ph.D. student, 

Jin Zhou, to improve 

Participants in the project. 

yield. Boron applications slightly improved 

yield and will be tested again 

next year. Higher doses of phosphorus 

will also be tested next summer since 

the initial trials had no impact on either 

plant growth or yield. 

Leaving the cut-over sites, we drove 

around the peninsula to visit a natural 

peatland where sectioning of rhizomes 

combined with soil fertilisation had 

been tested to improve the density 

and therefore the yield of cloudberry. 

“Slight improvements are only starting 

to show up two years after the treatments 

were applied.” explained Mireille 

Bellemare in the fi eld. 

Field site visits were followed by a 

tour of Les Buissons Research Centre. 

The different steps leading to clonal selection 

presented were in vitro culture, 

propagation in growth chambers and 

fi eld trials. This visit was supplemented 

33

Improving rhizome density and fruit yield in natural 

populations of cloudberry is a slow process according to 

Mireille Bellemare, a M.Sc. student. 

later by Dr. Kristine Naess who 

explained the strategy used to identify 

clones with a good potential. Lunch at 

Les Buissons Research Centre was the 

time for informal discussions about 

specifi c problems encountered in the 

growth of cloudberry and potential 

solutions. 

Oral presentations 

Dr. Inger Martinussen from the Holt 

Research Institute (Norway) presented 

an overview of the recent research 

projects on cloudberry in Norway. 

There has been a long-term project 

on cloudberry cultivar selection 

in Norway, which led to the commercialisation 

of two male and two 


female cultivars. However, 

research on fi eld cultivation 

is much more recent. While 

Norwegian researchers were 

running fi eld trials with the 

Norwegian cultivars, private 

producers also started to 

plant rhizomes and plugs to 

either increase density in natural 

populations or to start 

new plantations. While plugs 

exhibited interesting survival 

rates, rhizomes, as in Canada, 

had a high mortality rate. 

Following these somewhat 

deceiving results from both 

Laval University researchers 

and by Dr. Inger Martinussen, 

it was encouraging to 

hear that Gaetan Chiasson 

and its team from Agriculture, 

Fisheries and Aquaculture 

Ministry of New- 

Brunswick (Canada) obtained 

better survival rates in plantations 

on cut-over peatlands, 

using the same cultivars and 

clones as those tested in Baie-Comeau. 

At this point, it is not clear why they 

got better results except for the fact 

that the peatland used was less compacted. 

In conclusion 

In Canada as well as in Norway, research 

on cloudberry cultivation is still 

far from the optimum goal of largescale 

production. We need to substantially 

improve the survival rate of rhizomes 

in cut-over peatland plantations 

before looking at ways to improve 

plant growth and eventually fruit yield. 

But we now know that the cloudberry 

cultivar Fjordgull can be grown under 

a more continental climate such as in 

the Baie-Comeau area, which 

should considerably increase 

fruit yield compared to Canadian 

clones once we fi nd ways 

to improve its initial survival 

and growth rate. 

Meanwhile, we need to 

fi nd local producers willing to 

propagate this cultivar under 

greenhouse conditions so that 

material would be readily available 

once we overcome the 

main cultivation problems. In well-established 

cloudberry populations, there 

are also many more experimental trials 

to be run in order to improve density 

and yield. Since Eastern Canada and 

Norway/Finland present quite different 

climatic conditions, promising 

results from each side of the Atlantic 

will need to be validated in each other 

country. 

Being at the very beginning of 

cloudberry cultivation, however, we 

can just expect that progress will be 

substantial over the next few years and 

that international collaboration will 

accelerates this progress. � 

Julie Bussières 

Peatland Ecology Research Group 

Laval University, Quebec, Canada 

e-mail: julie.bussieres.1@ulaval.ca 

New IPS Members 

We welcome the following persons 

and organisations as new 

members of the “peat family”: 

Corporate Members: 

Canada: Peat Resources Limited 

(Slava Golod), Theriault 

& Hachey Peat Moss Ltd. 

(Lakshman L.Ranasinghe) 

China: Dunhua Jixiang Peatmoss 

Develop Co Ltd (H.Ping); Find 

Sources International Ltd. 

Individual Members: 

Australia: Pettina Love 

Canada: Carol Dickinson, Philippe 

Jobin, Maryam Mofi dpoor, 

André St-Hilaire 

Finland: Tuomas Haapalehto, 

Timo Haikarainen, Sanna 

Kangasjärvi, Kaarina Konola, 

Susanna Korte, Seija Kultti, 

Maija Lampela, Maiju Lassila, 

Keijo Nenonen, Meeri Pearson, 

Päivi Saari 

Ghana: Yahaja Ahmed Tijan 

Hungary: János Dömsödi, Zoltán 

Matécsa, Lajos Szerdahelyi 

Ireland: J. Martin 

Italy: Laura Crippa, Patrizia 

Zaccheo 

Malaysia: Zukufl i Zakaria 

Norway: Simon Ballance, Björn 

Christensen 

Poland: P. Bartminski, 

S. Krajewski, J. Nowak, 

Miroslaw Orzechowski, 

Slawomir Smólczynski, 

P. Zajaczkowski 

UK: Ian D. Rotherham 

USA: John Baker, William Buck

The Imnati Mire in the Kolkheti 

Lowland in Georgia Text and photos: Andreas Haberl, 

Marina Kahrmann, Matthias Krebs, 

Izolda Matchutadze and Hans Joosten 

Imnati, the largest mire in 

Georgia, is a worldwide 

unique percolation bog with 

a characteristic vegetation of 

Saw grass and peat mosses. 

In spite of its status as a 

National Park and Ramsar 

site, the mire is threatened 

by human activities. 

The Kolkheti (Colchis) area in Western 

Georgia (Caucasus) at the coast of the 

Black Sea is known for its extensive 

and special mires that - situated between 

citrus groves and tea plantations 

- form a structural and functional transition 

between the mires of the boreal 

and those of the tropical zones (Joosten 

et al. 2003). The special character of 

the area and its mires brought Botch & 

Masing (1983) and Succow & Joosten 

(2001) to the distinction of a specifi c 

Kolkheti mire region within Eurasia. 

The characteristic mire type of this 

region is the percolation bog (Joosten 

& Clarke 2002), a dome-shaped Sphagnum 

mire only fed by precipitation, 

that – in contrast to bogs in other parts 

of the world - has slightly humifi ed 

and highly permeable peat over its total 

depth. This allows water to percolate 

through the whole peat body (Lamme 

2006). The absence of substantial 

surface-water 

fl ow prevents the 

differentiation of 

hummocks and 

hollows (Couwenberg 

& Joosten 

2005) giving these 

mires their typical 

smooth surface. 

The existence 

of percolation 

bogs in the 

Kolkheti lowland 

was - on theoretical 

grounds - predicted 

on the basis 

of the prevailing extremely high and 

continuous precipitation (Couwenberg 

& Joosten 1999). The worldwide fi rst 

percolation bog that was discovered 

and intensively studied was the mire 

Ispani 2 near Kobuleti in the southern 

part of the Kolkheti lowland (Kaffke 

et al. 2000). 

In order to test and improve the 

concept of percolation bog, the 

Imnati mire, with similar morphological 

features, was 

focus of further 

research. 

Imnati is situated 

in the centre 

of the Kolkheti 

lowland 30 km 

north of Ispani 2 

close to the Black 

Sea (Fig.1). The 

climate is characterised 

by continuousprecipitation 

(1661 mm 

a -1 ) and a high 

humidity (80%), 

with a high mean 

annual temperature 

(14.1°C) and 

hardly any frost. 

Imnati constitutes, 

with 5000 

ha of non forested mire, 11% of the 

peatland area in Georgia. It is part of 

the “Wetlands of Central Kolkheti” 

Ramsar site designated in 1997 and is 

incorporated in the Kolkheti National 

Park which was established in 1999. 

Imnati consists of two separate bog 

cupolas. The western cupola (Fig.2) 

was studied in detail in 2004 and 2005 

by Greifswald University (Germany) 

in cooperation with the Integrated 

Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) 

Centre Tbilisi, the Kolkheti National 

Park, and the Georgian botanist Izolda 

Matchutadze (Kahrmann & Haberl 

2005). 

Peat formation 

Peat formation in Imnati began approx. 

6000 BP (Nejstadt et al. 1965). 

Before that, the area was a lagoon 

separated from the Black Sea by a spit 

build up of sediments from the Rioni 

River. Over the clay and silt sediments 

of the lagoon, a peat body of 3 to 12 

m depth accumulated (Fig.3). The peat 

Fig. 1, top left: Imnati mire in the Kolkheti lowland (Western Georgia) 

Fig. 2, above: Map of Imnati mire with the locations of the transects. 

35

Fig. 3: Stratigraphy of the western part of the Imnati mire (Kahrmann & Haberl 2005). 

stratigraphy reveals two main phases 

of mire development. 

A fen phase started with the terrestrialisation 

of the lagoon by stands 

of reed (Phragmites australis) growing 

under nutrient rich conditions. Peat 

accumulation led to a decrease in 

nutrient availability and to a vegetation 

dominated by sedges (e.g. Carex 

lasiocarpa, C. rostrata) and Purple moor 

grass (Molinia litoralis). Also Saw grass 

(Cladium mariscus) was abundant in this 

period which led to the local formation 

of Cladium peat. The fen phase lasted 

for approx. 4000 years because of continuous 

tectonic sinking of the area. 

For a short time tectonic subsidence 

was even faster than peat accumulation 

leading to a renewed establishment of 

Phragmites. 

Fig. 4: The Imnati mire with the Minor Caucasus in the background. 


Finally, at about 2000 BP, peat 

accumulation rates exceeded the rate 

of sea level rise, the infl uence of rain 

water increased, and the bog phase 

with dominance of peat mosses (e.g. 

Sphagnum imbricatum, S. papillosum) and 

Purple moor grass started. Molinia- 

Sphagnum peat of up to 6 m thick 

raised the surface of the bog to more 

than 5 m above the current Black Sea 

level. 

The warm/humid climatic conditions 

led to the accumulation of very 

loose and hardly humifi ed Sphagnum 

peats with a characteristic high proportion 

of rootlets and stem bases of Purple 

moor grass. These features explain 

the large active porosity and hydraulic 

conductivity of the peat. 

Vegetation 

The recent vegetation of Imnati is 

composed of a few vascular plants 

and peat moss species. The major area 

of the mire is covered by a peat moss 

carpet with Yellow Azalea (Rhododendron 

luteum) and Purple moor grass. 

Remarkable are the co-occurrence of 

high coverages of Purple moor grass 

and sedges (50%) where peat mosses 

still cover 90%. Despite its southern 

location and warm-temperate climate, 

boreal mire fl ora elements like Roundleaved 

sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), Bog 

bean (Menyanthes trifoliata), White Beaksedge 

(Rhynchospora alba), and Wool 

fruited sedge (Carex lasiocarpa) are 

abundant. Invasive vascular plant species 

e.g. Polygonum thunbergii, Blackberry 

(Rubus fruticosus), Burr marigold (Bidens 

tripartita), and Microstegium japonicum and 

a lower coverage of peat mosses indicate 

human impact close to the margin 

of the mire. 

Extraordinary is the frequent occurrence 

of Saw grass (Cladium mariscus) 

that is found in large and vital stands 

overlying peat bog deposits up to 5 m 

deep. Saw grass is known as a basi- 

and calciphilous species that grows 

in bogs only on shallow bog deposits 

where it is interpreted as a receding 

relict species of a former fen phase 

(Lutz 1938). Our measurements of 

electric conductivity and piezometric 

levels in the elevated parts of Imnati 

rule out that Saw grass refl ects upward 

seepage of calcareous groundwater: 

the sites are fully ombrotrophic.

Fig 5: High coverages of Purple Moorgras and sedges in a dense 

carpet of peat mosses. 

The warm-temperate climate of the 

Kolkheti lowland seems to enable the 

thermophilic species to cope with acid 

and nutrient poor conditions naturally. 

But also human impact like frequent 

burning may have enhanced Saw grass. 

Human impact is also refl ected in the 

peat stratigraphy in the uppermost 0.2 

- 0.5 m, in which remnants of Purple 

moor grass prevail. Also the absence 

of Sphagnum imbricatum, a fi re-sensitive 

species that was still abundant in the 

1930s (Dokturovski 1936), points in 

the same direction. 

Hydrology 

With respect to hydrological characteristics, 

Imnati shows an average phreatic 

water level of -8 cm below the mire 

surface and water table fl uctuations 

of less than 14 cm in average. The hydraulic 

conductivity of the peat (also at 

greater depths) has values 0.1 – 5 md -1 

higher than in other bogs worldwide. 

The hydraulic conductivity changes 

little over depth, with a decrease of 

generally only one order of magnitude 

from 0.4 – 3.9 m. This enables water 

to fl ow through the whole bog peat 

body (Lamme 2006). The high hy- 

draulic conductivity 

of the porous peat 

prevents surface run 

off in periods with 

high precipitation 

and leads to better 

nutrient availability 

through water fl ow 

(rheotrophy sensu 

Kulczyński 1949). 

On the other hand 

it would cause a 

running dry of the 

mire in dry periods 

that frequently occur 

in summer and 

may last for several 

weeks. Desiccation, 

however, does not 

happen because of 

the high elasticity of 

the peat that results 

from its high root 

content and the low 

humifi cation, which 

provide a good 

oscillation capacity 

of the mire surface. The mire surface 

sinks with the phreatic water level in 

dry periods and rises in periods of high 

rainfall (mire oscillation – “Mooratmung”). 

Peat, vegetation and water 

Peat, vegetation, and water 

are in a steady state in Imnati 

today. The abnormally 

high proportion of vascular 

plants for Sphagnum 

bogs induces higher evapotranspiration 

rates and 

a consequent larger water 

table drop down, resulting 

in higher rates of decomposition, 

which destroy the 

pore space and elasticity 

of the peat. This again 

would increase the water 

table fl uctuations. Extended 

periods of desiccation 

would hamper peat moss 

growth and would stimulate 

nutrient availability 

through decomposition, 

which would further boost 

the share of vascular 

plants (positive feedback 

loop). In Imnati, however, the vascular 

plants provide a “skeleton” for peat 

mosses whose extraordinary growth 

rates in this region (Krebs & Gaudig 

2005) prevent them from being outcompeted 

by vascular plants. As a 

result, highly porous and elastic peat 

accumulates, whose high storage and 

oscillation capacity stops the escalation 

of the positive feedback loop. 

Imnati is an impressive example that 

percolation bogs have resilience against 

irregular precipitation. The oscillation 

capacity is the decisive mechanism 

that helps this mire type to bridge dry 

periods “actively”. The high hydraulic 

conductivity of the peat avoids a 

drowning in wet periods “passively”. 

Utilisation of the peatland 

Mire utilisation only started 150 years 

ago with the cutting of marginal forests. 

In 1935, peat excavation started in 

the southern part of the mire, where 

it continued into the 1980s. The peat 

was mixed with phosphorus and other 

mineral fertilisers to be used for soil 

improvement in tea and citrus plantations 

(Tabadze 1963). Also the production 

of fuel pellets was tried out in 

1955/56. Their quality was, however, 

worse than from other peatlands in the 

Fig 6: Typical aspect in the vegetation in Imnati - Yellow 

Azaleas fl owering in spring. 

37

Fig. 7: Human impact through subsistence economy - cattle grazing in the south of Imnati. 

former Soviet Union and the exploitation 

stopped. 

During Soviet times, hay for cattle 

was mechanically harvested in the 

southeastern part of the mire. After 

the collapse of the Soviet Union, the 

economic situation became worse. 

The forests at the mire margin were 

increasingly cut for fuel and private 

cattle more and more graze the Purple 

moor grass close to the settlements. To 

stimulate grass growth and to improve 

access for hunting (especially during 

the bird migration season!) the area is 

frequently burned. 

Nevertheless, the largely pristine 

Imnati mire is, because of its extent 

and its unique biodiversity values, one 

of the peatland treasures of Georgia. 

Its importance, ironically, increases 

by the current construction of an oil 

terminal and an associated railway in 

other parts of the Kolkheti Ramsar 

wetlands and National Park (Salathé 

2005). Despite its status as National 

Park and Ramsar site, from time to 

time ideas emerge to resume the utilization 

of the peatland. 

Pilot area for Sphagnum 

farming? 

Instead of concocting destruction 

of the world-wide unique Kolkheti 

mires for the production of horticultural 

substrates from peats, it is better 

to look for renewable alternatives. 

Because the climate guarantees yearround 

moss growth, peat mosses are 


highly productive in the Kolkheti lowland, 

with Sphagnum papillosum reaching 

a production of over 10 tonnes 

dry weight per ha per year (Krebs & 

Gaudig 2005). 

The perennial rainfall and humidity 

cause the peat mosses to regenerate 

very well. This enables the production 

of Sphagnum biomass on formerly 

meliorated and excavated peatland 

and fallow mineral soil. Near Supsa, 

south of Imnati, a degraded peatland 

currently used as low-productive arable 

land, could be prepared as a pilot 

area for Sphagnum cultivation. These 

potentials will be assessed in further 

projects of the Institute of Landscape 

Ecology and Botany of Greifswald 

University. � 

Bibliography 

Botch, M. S. & V. V. Masing, 1983. Mire 

Ecosystems in the U.S.S.R. In: Gore, 

A. J. P. (ed.): Ecosystems of the world 

4B. Mires: swamp, bog, fen and moor. 

Regional studies. Elsevier. Amsterdam. 

1983. pp. 95-152. 

Couwenberg, J. & H. Joosten, 1999. 

Pools as missing links: the role of nothing 

in the being of mires. In: Standen, 

V., J. Tallis & R. Meade (eds.): Patterned 

mires and mire pools - Origin 

and development; fl ora and fauna. 

British Ecological Society. Durham. pp. 

87 – 102. 

Couwenberg, J. & H. Joosten, 2005. Self 

organisation in raised bog patterning: 

the origin of microtope zonation and 

mesotope diversity. Journal of Ecology 

93: pp. 1238-1248. 

Dokturowski, W. S. 1936, Materialy po 

isutscheniju torfjanikow Sakawkasja. 

(Beiträge zum Studium der Torfmoore 

Transkaukasiens). Potschwowedenie 2: 

pp. 183-202. 

Joosten, H. & D. Clarke, 2002. Wise use 

of mires and peatlands – Background 

and principles including a framework 

for decision-making. International Mire 

Conservation Group / International Peat 

Society. 304 p. 

Joosten, H., Kaffke, A. & I. Matchutadze, 

2003. The mires of the Kolkheti lowlands 

(Georgia). IMCG Newsletter 

2003/3. pp. 19 – 23. 

Kaffke, A., J. Couwenberg, H. Joosten, I. 

Matchutadze & J. Schulz, 2000. Ispani 

II: the world’s fi rst percolation bog. In: 

Québec 2000 Millenium Wetland Event. 

Program with Abstracts. p. 487. 

Kahrmann, M. & A. Haberl, 2005. Imnati 

- ein Regendurchströmungsmoor? 

Moorkundliche Untersuchungen in der 

Kolchis (Georgien). MSc thesis. Greifswald 

University. 101 p. 

Krebs, M. & G. Gaudig, 2005. Torfmoos 

(Sphagnum) als nachswachsender 

Rohstoff – Untersuchungen zur Maximierung 

der Produktivität von Sphagnum 

papillosum im Regendurchströmungsmoor 

Ispani 2 (Georgien). Telma 

35. pp. 171-189. 

Kulczyński, M.St., 1949. Torfowiska 

Polesia (Peat bogs of Polesie, transl. by 

W.H. Paryski). Mémoires de l’Académie 

Polonaise des Sciences et des 

Lamme, O., 2006. An eco-hydrological 

approach to peatlands: a search of a 

percolating bog in the Kolchis area. 

MSc thesis, University Utrecht. 65 p. 

Lettres - Classe des sciences Mathématiques 

et Naturelles - Serie B: Sciences 

Naturelles, Krakov 15: 356 p. 

Lutz, J., 1938. Geobotanische Beobachtungen 

an Cladium mariscus R. BR. in 

Süddeutschland. Ber. Bayer. Bot.Ges. 

23. pp. 135 - 142. 

Nejstadt, M. I., Chotinskij, N. A., Dewiri, 

A. L., Markowa, N. G. (1965): Imnatskoje 

Boloto (The Imnati bog). Paleogeografi 

ja i chronologija werchnewo 

plejstozena i golozena po dannym radiuglerodnowo 

metoda. K VII kongressu 

INQUA (SSchA 1965), pp. 105 – 112. 

(in Russian) 

Salathé, T., 2005. Ramsar Advisory Missions: 

No. 54, Georgia, Central Kolkheti 

Wetlands. URL: http://www.ramsar. 

org/ram/ram_rpt_54e.htm. visited at 

28.02.2006. 

Succow, M. & H. Joosten (eds.), 2001. 

Landschaftsökologische Moorkunde. 2. 

ed. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart. 622 p. 

Tabadze, F.N., 1963. Prirodnije resursij 

grusinskoi SSR. bd. 5. Isdatelstwo 

akademii nauk SSSR. Moskwa. 272 p. 

Andreas Haberl, Marina Kahrmann 

Matthias Krebs, Izolda Matchutadze 

& Hans Joosten 

Institute of Botany and Landscape 

Ecology, Greifswald Germany 

e-mail: joosten@uni-greifswald.de

Telma No. 35 

Telma is the annual Journal of the German Peat Society. Because of limited 

space, only the English titles of the manuscripts, mostly written in German, are 

listed here. The full table of contents can be downloaded from www.dgmtev.de. 

TELMA can be ordered for EUR 40 (non-members) plus mailing costs from: 

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Moorund 

Torfkunde (DGMT) e.V. 

Alfred-Benz-Haus, Stilleweg 2 

D-30655 Hannover, Germany 

LÜTTIG, G.: WOLFGANG FLAIG - 17 December 1912 to 20 May 2004 

JESCHKE, L.: MICHAEL SUCCOW - Recipient of the C.A. WEBER-Medal 

SCHOUWENAARS, J.: C. A. WEBER-Medal for HANS JOOSTEN 

HOFER, B.: HARTMUT FALKENBERG – Honory member of the DGMT 

A. Papers 

KAPPEL, A., BEHLING, H. & ZOLITSCHKA, B.: Reconstruction of late and postglacial environmental conditions due 

to a peat profi le from the ´Varreler Schlatt´ (district Diepholz, Northwestern Germany) 

VAN DER SCHAAF, S.: How fast is discharge from a raised bog? – An old discussion revisited. 

RASKIN, R. & MISERÉ, S. (FRANKARD, PH.): Flora and Vegetation of the “Hohes Venn” 

MÜLLER, F.: Distribution, threat and nature conservation of the peat mosses (genus Sphagnum) in Saxony 

ALETSEE, M.: Protection and restoration of the „palsen“ as the basis for conservation of mire vegetation and endangered 

odonata species in the German-Belgium Hohe Venn 

BROCKHAUS, TH.: Spreading and preservation of dragonfl ies in bogs in Saxony 

REIMANN, H. & KIEL, E.: Remarkable records of ant species in the Ahlen-Falkenberger Moor (Lower Saxony) 

LANGE, P.: Distribution of peat and peat mining in Thuringia 

LEHRKAMP, H. & SCHULZE, H.: The bog sand-cover cultivations by Councilor Paul Schreyer in the Randow-Welse- 

Bruch 

KREBS, M. & GAUDIG, G.: Peat mosses (Sphagnum) as a renewable resource – Investigations on maximising productivity 

of Sphagnum papillosum in the percolation bog Ispani 2 (Georgia) 

BASTIAN, O. & RÖDER, M.: About the distribution of areas rich in bogs among the physical landscapes of the lowlands 

and the hill country in the district of Dresden 

FRANKARD, PH.: Rehabilitation of raised bogs und wet heaths on the Hautes-Fagnes (East Belgium): an assessment after 

ten years of management trials 

KAMERMANN, D.: Landscape-ecological research in the nature reserve „Lichtenmoor“ - A summary of 35 years bog protection 

SPERLING, H.: The former bog baths Marienborn, Johannisbad and Bad Heil - The History of the baths in Schmeckwitz 

HAVERKAMP, M.: The Emsland Moormuseum 

LÜTTIG, G.: Tampere, IPC 2004 – The dozen is full! - Refl ections on twelve international peat congresses 

B. Brief Communications 

SCHWEIKLE, V.: Restoring of bogs/fens to nature according to the law of conservation of nature in relation to the law of 

conservation of soil in Germany 

KLÖCKING, R.: Report on the IPS Symposium of Commission VI „Peat and Humic Substance Preparations in Medicine, 

Veterinary Medicine and Body Care”, held in Bad Langensalza (Thuringia) on 25-27 May 2005 

ZINKE, P.: Report on the symposium “Peatlands in the lowlands and hill countries of Saxony” in Dresden-Marsdorf, June, 

3-5, 2005 

SCHMATZLER, E.: Report on the General Meeting of DGMT, 7 - 10 September 2005 in Stade, Germany 

C. Literature on Peat and Peatland 

Remarks upon some books on the theme “Peat and Peatlands” 

HACKER, E.: Publications on “Peat and Peatland” from the German language area in 2004 with additions for earlier years 

39

LEAVING ITS MARK 

IN THE PEAT INDUSTRY 

• HARVESTING 

• SCREENING 

• MIXING 

• DOSING 

• BAGGING 

• PALLETIZING 

• LOAD SECURING 

40 PEATLANDS International 1/2006 (418) 868-TECH (8324) l info@premiertechsystems.com 

WWW.PREMIERTECHSYSTEMS.COM

Premier Tech Systems: Bringing 

Automation to the Peat Industry 

David Levesque gives an 

overview of the history of 

Premier Tech and what 

products and services it can 

today provide to the Peat 

Industry. 

Looking back to 1989, the equipment 

adventure of Premier Tech Systems 

started when Bernard Bélanger, President 

& CEO of Premier Horticulture 

Ltd. (PHL), decided that the only way 

to lead the peat moss business would 

be to automate its operations as much 

as possible. 

At the time, market suppliers could 

not offer full automation and did not 

believe it could be done. That’s when 

Premier Tech Systems was born as the 

engineering entity of Premier Horticulture, 

with a small team of engineers 

determined to make it happen. Now, 

the team includes more than 450 

people, among them, some 35 who 

work full time for Research, Development 

and Innovation. The success of 

this company is based mainly on the 

importance of RD&I and its constant 

search for customer satisfaction. 

Equipment innovations for 

the peat industry 

To maintain its leading position in 

manufacturing processing and packaging 

equipment for the peat industry, 

Premier Tech Systems markets innovation 

products that will give its customers 

a competitive edge. 

First, there’s the 2-Head Vacuum 

Harvester, which is pulled by a tractor 

for optimum peat moss harvesting. 

With a tank capacity of 1,100 ft 3 (30.8 

m 3 ) and a working capacity of 7.5 

acres/hr. (3.03 ha/hr.), this harvester 

can be productive in a very short time. 

Besides being an effective harvester, 

even under unstable weather conditions, 

this unit’s aluminium construction 

means minimal pressure is exerted 

on the ground. Because of its light 

weight, it requires less pulling power, 

Premier Tech Headquarter in Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec. 

which ultimately results in better fuel 

consumption. 

Another innovation from Premier 

Tech Systems is the new EA-450 

Vertical Form, Fill and Seal Baler that 

makes its own bags from a roll of fl at 

polyethylene fi lm, resulting in reductions 

in packaging material and direct 

labour costs. This fully automated system 

packages compressible products, 

such as peat moss, at a density ratio of 

up to 2.5:1 and produces watertight, 

square-cornered bales 

of 25 to 300 litres. It is safe 

and designed to operate cleanly, 

smoothly and with minimum 

noise. It uses a proven electronic-impulse 

sealing technology 

and is equipped with a 

volumetric belt feeder that has 

a levelling device for accurate 

dosing. 

Lastly, there is the new and 

innovative EM-2000 Semi-Bulk 

Baler, a semi-automatic system 

specially designed to produce 

very large sized peat moss bales 

(up to 300 ft3 /8.5 m3 ). Rather 

than stretch wrapping the 

product, this new machine uses 

pre-made plastic bags, which 

produce a better looking bale. 

The bales produced also provide 

more protection for the 

Text and photos: David Levesque 

bagged material during transport and 

storage, and the print on the bags is a 

good marketing tool. 

Customer satisfaction 

The customers of Premier Tech Systems 

can count on 22 fi eld service 

representatives in North America and 

Europe, 6 modem/remote service 

technicians, and 8 spare parts special- 

EM-2000 Semi-Bulk Baler. 

41

ists. The company is also considering 

starting a small service unit to ensure 

better proximity and technical support 

in the Baltic States and Scandinavian 

countries. 

Premier Tech Systems Vacuum Harvester. 


As well, Premier Tech Systems 

recently launched an online, aftermarket 

Web portal for their customers. 

PM-5.COM was created in an effort to 

reach the next level in customer care 

and achieve an 

even greater 

customer 

satisfaction. 

In time, they 

will provide all 

customers with 

access to their 

Extranet, where 

the customers 

will be able to 

consult service 

bulletins, 

recommended 

spare-part kits, 

equipment 

modernization 

and upgrades, 

as well as 

troubleshoot- 

Visit the IPS Online Shop! 

ing tips. Already, it is possible to order 

parts online, provided buyers have 

their part numbers handy. 

In the past 16 years, Premier Tech 

Systems has become the largest provider 

of packaging and processing sSolutions 

in the peat moss industry. PTS 

offers a complete package, including 

fi eld preparing, harvesting, screening, 

mixing, baling, bagging, conveying, palletizing 

(conventional or robotic) and 

stretch wrapping solutions. � 

David Levesque 

Premier Tech Systems 

1 Avenue Premier 

Riviere-du-Loup, QB G5R 6C1 

Canada 

phone: 418-867-8887 

e-mail: levm@premiertech.com 

www.premiertechsystems.com 

These publications as well as more than 60 other books on peat and peatlands can now 

be ordered also online at www.peatsociety.org. We have added global mailing costs 

to the price of the publications, so you know from the very beginning how much your order 

will cost. Payments can be made conveniently online by credit card or bank transfer. 

www.peatsociety.org

BOGLAND - A Protocol for Wise 

Use and Sustainable Management of 

Peatlands in Ireland 

In 2005, a three-year project 

named “BOGLAND” was 

initiated by the Irish 

Environmental Protection 

Agency and is being led by 

University College Dublin. 

The overall objectives of the BOG- 

LAND project are: 

• To quantify the main features of 

the peatland resource, notably 

extent and volume, biodiversity, 

hydrology, carbon balance and 

contribution to greenhouse gas 

fl uxes; 

• To assess vulnerability to environmental 

pressures and threats 

arising out of various kinds of 

exploitation (drainage, mining, 

forestry, energy, agriculture etc.); 

• To assess socio-cultural, economic, 

institutional and policy issues; 

• To integrate and synthesise the results 

of literature-based and fi eld 

studies and; 

Diagram A: BOGLAND project structure. 

Ballygasheen lowland blanket bog, Co. Kerry. 

Text and photos: Florence Renou 

• To develop a protocol for the 

wise use and sustainable manage- 

Wise use of Irish peatlands 

ment of the peatland resource in While the area of Ireland covered by 

Ireland. 

peat is considerable (over 16%), much 

of this has been extensively modifi 

ed by man. Peat 

has been used in 

Ireland since prehistoric 

times but 

since the advent 

of industrial peat 

extraction, the 

process has accelerated 

and within a 

few decades most 

of the larger raised 

bogs in the Irish 

midlands will have 

been exploited. 

It is crucial 

that appropriate 

measures be put in 

place to promote 

the wise use of 

remaining peatland 

resources, to ensure 

that adequate 

43

pristine areas of high ecological value 

are identifi ed and conserved and that 

the extensive cutaway peatlands which 

remain following mechanical peat 

extraction are used in the best interests 

of society as a whole. Ireland is obliged 

under the terms of the Convention 

on Biological Diversity (CBD) to take 

account of ‘multifunctionality’ when 

considering the future development 

and use of cutaways. 

Also arising out of its commitments 

under CBD, Ireland has undertaken 

to carry out and implement local 

Biodiversity Action Plans which are 

currently being prepared on a county 

basis. In parts of Ireland where bogs 

are prevalent, peatlands will feature 

prominently in these plans. It is thus 

timely to explore and enhance awareness 

of the ecological value of peatlands. 

In short, Ireland needs to apply 

the principles of Wise Use of Peatlands 

stated in Joosten and Clarke. 1 

Knowing our peatlands 

There is currently a considerable 

amount of scattered information on 

various aspects of the ecological, physio-chemical, 

socio-economic and policy 

issues regarding peatlands that need to 

be considered in the development of 

guidelines for sustainable management 

of peatlands. However, a much more 

extensive review and evaluation of this 

information is required and further 

Clara raised bog, Co. Offaly. 


Florence Renou, project manager explains peat stratigraphy at a cutover raised bog. 

research is needed in many areas where 

signifi cant knowledge gaps have been 

identifi ed. 

The work will be conducted in four 

subprojects (see Diagram A), with the 

core research work focusing on three 

areas: 

• 

• 

• 

Biodiversity 

Characterisation of the physical 

peatland resource and its use 

Socio-cultural, economic & institutional/policy 

Biodiversity 

This work builds on the considerable 

body of existing information on vascular 

plant communities and macrofauna 

of Irish peatlands. Biodiversity is not 

limited to the ‘visible’ diversity present 

on the bog surface however. Soil and 

aquatic invertebrates together with micro-organisms 

(methanogenic archaea) 

are also a focus of the project, and for 

the fi rst time the signifi cance of this 

rich repertoire of Irish peatland biodiversity 

will be quantify and assessed. 

Characterisation of the 

physical peatland resource 

and its use 

An estimation of the volume and carbon 

content of peat is still required 

in order to improve estimates of the 

magnitude of the Irish peatland carbon 

reservoir. As well as producing maps, 

this project will examine the impact of 

climate change scenarios on the stability 

of the peatland carbon resource. It 

will examine peatland vulnerability to 

man-induced interferences (mining, afforestation, 

sheep grazing, wind farms) 

with respect to 1) physical aspects (risk 

of ‘bogslides’), 2) carbon and methane 

fl uxes, and 3) hydrological features. 

Socio-cultural, economic & 

institutional/policy 

This part of the project aims to develop 

an understanding of the values 

1 H.Joosten and D. Clarke. 2003. 

Wise use of mires and peatlands. International 

Mire Conservation Group and 

International Peat Society, Saarijärvi, 

Finland.

of peatlands within the Irish public in 

general and how the contribution of 

peatlands in social, economic and environmental 

terms can be characterised 

by indicators over time. This will be 

done through 1) the examination of 

communities linked to peatland areas, 

rural development, archaeology and 

culture and tourism; 2) the economic 

valuation of resource uses, market and 

non-market values including carbon 

sink, and 3) the appraisal of relevant 

policies. In addition, an in-depth case 

study will be carried out in an area 

largely dominated by industrial cutaway 

peatlands with a view to producing a 

blueprint on community and stakeholder 

involvement in the future of 


Project activities 

The fi rst activity of the project was to 

set up a stratifi ed sampling programme 

representing all types of peatlands 

found in Ireland. Four representative 

sites were identifi ed among the following 

categories: lowland/Atlantic 

blanket bogs, mountain blanket bogs, 

raised bogs and fens with cutaway 

peatlands forming an added category 

where certain studies will be carried 

out to supplement already existing 

projects. 2 Where possible, studies will 

be replicated in both ‘natural’ and ‘degraded’ 

areas within the same peatland. 

This will help assessing the impact of 

activities such as turf-cutting and afforestation 

as well as considering the 

2 See Carbal and Bogfor projects at 

www.ucd.ie/ferg/research/. 

Do you know Peat News? 

effects of restoration or rehabilitation, 

for example where drains have been 

blocked. 

The project is multi-disciplinary 

and brings together the expertise from 

different organisations around Ireland. 

The project also benefi ts from the 

contribution of experts from several 

countries through an international 

steering committee. 

BOGLAND is supported by the 

Environmental RTDI Programme 

2000-2006, fi nanced by the Irish Government 

under the National Development 

Plan and administered on behalf 

of the Department of the Environment, 

Heritage and Local Government 

by the Environmental Protection 

Agency. “Peatlands are one of our 

key natural resources and I welcome 

the commencement of this research 

project which will develop a protocol 

for the sustainable management 

of peatlands in Ireland. The unique 

approach of this integrated project in 

examining the environmental, economic, 

social and institutional issues facing 

Irish peatland promises to deliver a 

valuable blueprint for the protection 

of this important ecosystem” said 

Mary Kelly, EPA Director, Ireland. 

The major outputs of this project 

will be presented in 2008 coinciding 

with the 13 th International Peatland 

Congress which will take place in 

Ireland. � 

Florence Renou 

Project Manager 

School of Biology and Environmental 

Science 

University College Dublin, Ireland 

e-mail: fl orence.renou@ucd.ie 

www.ucd.ie/bogland 

If you are a member of the IPS and wish to know about 

the activities of the “peat family” on a more regular basis 

than by reading Peatlands International, we invite you to 

order our monthly e-mail newsletter Peat News. 

You can send a request including your e-mail address to 

ips@peatsociety.org. The subscription is included in the 

membership fee. Peat News is sent out at the end of each 

month to about 1,030 IPS members. The latest issue can 

also be found at www.peatsociety.org. � 

Join the 


Peat Society! 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The International Peat Society 

is open to all individuals and 

organisations dealing with peat 

and peatlands. We would be 

glad to welcome you within the 

“peat family”. 

If you live in Belarus, Canada, 

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Sweden, the United Kingdom, 

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the Chair of your National 

Committee for membership conditions 

(see www.peatsociety. 

org for their contact details). 

If you are living in another country 

than the above mentioned, 

you are welcome to become an 

IPS member directly via the IPS 

Secretariat. For € 42 for individual, 

21 € for student and € 253 

for corporate members annually 

you will enjoy the full benefi ts of 

an IPS membership. 

More information is available at 

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Membership benefits 

access to the events of the 

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such as meetings, workshops, 

congresses and symposia 

signifi cant discount on registration 

fees 

free subscription of the 

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published twice annually 

and containing about 

60 pages of reports from 

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research results, background 

stories etc. 

free subscription of the 

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“Peat News” 

access to publications on 

peat and peatland business, 

research and related fi elds 

networking opportunities with 

more than 1,300 specialists 

in peat and peatland science 

and industry 

45

Recording the Past: the Power of Peat 

Peat bogs are powerful archives 

containing records on 

the environment and culture 

of the past, such as climate 

change - as indicated by 

botanical remains - and bog 

finds such as archaeological 

materials, including human 

remains (bog bodies). Some 

recent research highlights 

from the Netherlands are 

presented. 

Peat bogs are growing continuously 

under certain climatic conditions such 

as those that prevailed during the 

Holocene - the present geological period 

that, following the last ice age, has 

lasted for approximately 11,500 years. 

Peat bogs and palaeoclimate 

By digging into terrestrial deposits, one 

travels, in general, back in time from 

the present to the past - the deeper, 

the older. The relative occurrence of 

plant species at a certain depth (and 

thus at a certain time in the past) 

indicates climatic conditions, like tem- 

Figure 2: The variations in the natural 14 C content, as measured in tree 

rings dated by dendro-chronology. The 14 C content is plotted as the 

deviation from the normal level, and is corrected for radioactive decay. 


perature and humidity, under which the 

plants at this depth were growing. In 

general terms, dominance of tree pollen 

is indicative of warmth; the relative 

abundance of different species gives 

fi ner detail. For example, there usually 

is a dominance of birch and pine during 

the initial phase of an interglacial 

like the Holocene, followed later by 

mixed forest (oak, elm, hazel) in the 

temperate regions. Thus, records of 

preserved botanical remains like pollen 

and macrofossils (branches, leaves) 

form a proxy for the palaeoclimate. 

Peat bogs consist of bog mosses 

(species of Sphagnum). They are 

rain-fed and grow continuously. After 

death, the mosses are well preserved. 

Continual growth of the peat bog surface 

and burial of dead organic matter 

leads to peat sequences that can exceed 

10 m in depth. 

Radiocarbon Dating 

The chronology of such deposits can 

be obtained by 14 C (or Radiocarbon) 

dating of organic remains like peat, 

macrofossils, or pollen. Radiocarbon is 

a natural radioactive 

isotope 

(with a half-life 

of 5730 years) 

of the element 

Carbon. 

This isotope is 

continuously 

produced by 

cosmic radiation 

in the 

upper atmosphere, 

and is 

taken up by 

the plants by 

photosynthesis. 

From there 

it fi nds its way 

into all living 

organisms via 

the food chain. 

There is an 

equilibrium 

Text and photos: J. van der Plicht 

J. van der Plicht. 

between uptake and decay of 14 C . After 

death of the organism, there is no 

longer uptake of 14 C; radioactive decay 

causes the content of 14 C to decrease. 

Hence, by measuring the remaining 

14 C content of for example the botanical 

remains from within a peat bog, the 

age of these remains (more precisely: 

the moment of death) can be established. 

The isotope 14 C provides in fact 

a clock, built into the organic residues. 

Although this sounds like a simple 

and straightforward principle, in practice 

there are many complications of 

which only one is mentioned here. For 

the simple dating model to work, one 

has to assume that the natural atmospheric 

14 C concentration is constant 

throughout time. It appears that this 

is not the case: the cosmic ray fl ux impinging 

on earth, and thus the amount 

of 14 C produced in the atmosphere, 

depends on factors like the strength 

of the earth’s magnetic fi eld, and solar 

activity. 

In addition, the 14 C concentrations 

are extremely small (1:1012-1015) so 

that measuring them requires highlyspecialized 

equipment, such as shown 

in Figure 1.

Trees as calendars 

The varying 14 C content in nature is 

known by a calibration curve, which 

is obtained by 14 C dating of tree rings 

from wood, that, in addition, are dated 

absolutely by dendro-chronology. This 

calibration curve makes dating possible 

because it allows the calculation 

of “historical ages” from “ 14 Cages”, 

thus taking the natural variations into 

account. The tree ring calendar extends 

back to more than 14,000 years 

ago. The calibration data are shown 

in Figure 2 as the relative 14 C content 

(corrected for radioactive decay) with 

respect to present day values. 

The long-term (millennium scale) 

trend of the data can be explained by 

the infl uence of the earth’s magnetic 

fi eld on the 14 C production rate. In 

general, this caused a higher 14 C content 

in nature millennia ago compared 

with the present. The sharp excursions 

on this long-term trend (like the one 

indicated at 800 BC) are caused by 

solar fl uctuations. 

At 800 BC, a climate change is registered 

in archives like peat bogs, known 

as the Subboreal-Subatlantic transition. 

This is illustrated in Figure 3, the peat 

bog Bargerveen in the Netherlands. 

The darker, more decomposed Subboreal 

peat was deposited under relatively 

warm and dry climatic conditions. The 

lighter coloured Subatlantic peat was 

formed under cooler, wetter climatic 

conditions. The change is marked in 

the fi gure, and is observed in many 

archives worldwide. 

Plant remains reveal past 

Botanical analysis of peat-forming 

plants from several peat bogs, in 

combination with precise 14 C dating, 

shows a remarkable phenomenon, as 

illustrated for the Engbertsdijksveen 

(the Netherlands) - see fi gure 4. The 

sharp rise of 14 C at 800 BC coincides 

with the shift from “older, darker” to 

“younger” Sphagnum peat at which 

point (see Figure 3) Sphagnum acutifolia 

shows a decline. Thereafter, following 

a dominance by highly hygrophilous 

moss species, Sphagnum cuspidatum and 

Sphagnum papillosum, the peat is formed 

mainly by remains of Sphagnum imbrica- 

Figure 1: The Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) for measuring 14 C concentrations at 

Groningen University, the Netherlands. 

tum, which has a preference for oceanic 

climatic conditions with a high air 

humidity. 

The wetter conditions around 800 

BC also coincide in signifi cantly rising 

water tables in the Netherlands, as 

evidenced by archaeological investiga- 

tions. The climate shift is observed on 

a global scale, and seems to be connected 

with migrations of prehistoric 

peoples as well. It is also remarkable 

that this time corresponds with the 

Bronze Age / Iron Age transition in 

Northwestern Europe. 

47

Figure 3: The Bargerveen in the Netherlands, showing the Subboreal-Subatlantic climate 

transition (indicated). 

The correlation of increased 14 C 

(which means solar infl uence), wet 

shift in peat bogs and climatic detoriation 

is also observed for the strong 

14 C excursions, observed during the 

so-called Little Ice Age (ca. 1600 AD; 

see Figure 2). In addition, the increased 

production of cosmogenic isotopes 

Figure 4: Variations in the natural 14 C content (see fi gure 2), 

zoomed in for 1000-500 BC. Also shown is a selection of botanical 

data from Engbertsdijksveen, the Netherlands. The sharp rise in 

the 14 C signal (a solar proxy) coincides with a climatic detoriation, 

as observed in a shift in Sphagnum species. 


( 14 C, but also 10 Be) appears to be associated 

with cooler climate throughout 

the complete Holocene. 

It is important to note that the 

observed teleconnections are an indication 

that “solar forcing” of climate 

change plays a more important role 

than previously thought. The mechanism 

is still not understood, 

however. 

To extract palaeoclimatic 

information 

from peat bogs, a 

variety of research 

programs are implemented. 

As a good 

example, we mention 

the EC-funded project 

Accrotelm (Abrupt 

Climate Changes 

Recorded Over The 

European Land Mass). 

For detailed information 

we refer to www. 

glos.ac.uk/accrotelm. 

Peat bogs and 

cultural finds 

In the extensive peat 

bogs of Northwestern 

Europe, archaeological 

fi nds shed light on 

past cultures. Such 

fi nds mostly took 

place during the era of 

peat cutting. From the 

17th - early 20th century, 

peat was a major 

source of energy in Northwestern Europe. 

A fi ne example of an archaeological 

fi nd is shown in fi gure 5: a wooden 

bog road from the Neolithic (ca. 2100 

BC), found in the peatlands of Nieuw 

Dordrecht, province of Drenthe, the 

Netherlands. A mystery is that the road 

does not lead anywhere; the construction 

was stopped for some reason. 

Wooden wheels, shoes, stone tools, 

pottery, ornaments and even unique remains 

of a temple (Barger-Oosterveld) 

have surfaced from the peat during the 

cutting era, illuminating cultures of the 

past from the Stone Age, Bronze Age 

and Iron Age. 

Bog bodies 

The most dramatic fi nds are people 

- the well known bog bodies. These 

bodies are known from the peats of 

(mainly) Ireland, England, Germany, 

the Netherlands and Denmark. Unfortunately, 

many bog bodies did not 

survive their discovery very long. Quite 

a few were reburied; others were destroyed 

(or even powdered into a medicine: 

“mumia”). But several bodies did 

fi nd their way into museums. Some 

bog bodies were found in an excellent 

state of preservation, like the famous 

Tollund Man in Denmark. Others, like 

the Yde girl (fi gure 6a), were damaged 

during the peat cutting and decayed 

partly after their discovery, before conservation 

measures could be applied. 

The Yde girl is the most famous bog 

body of the Netherlands, perhaps because 

her head has been reconstructed 

(Figure 6b). The body was found in 

1897 near the village of Yde (province 

of Drenthe, the Netherlands). She obviously 

died through strangulation with 

a woollen band, still visible around her 

neck. Her age is established as 16 years 

old. 

Establishing the age of bog bodies 

was for a long time a major problem, 

as most of them came to light 

unaccompanied by objects that could 

be dated on the basis of typological 

evidence. In addition, 14 C dating is 

hampered by the prolonged “chemical 

treatment” of the samples by the 

peat acids. Recently, a large series of 

bog bodies were 14 C dated by systematic 

analysis of materials like clothing 

(fur, textile), skin, leather (shoes), hair,

Figure 5: Bog road (consisting of trees) constructed in a peat bog 

ca. 4100 years ago near Nieuw Dordrecht, the Netherlands. 

wood and bone (when available) using 

the equipment shown in fi gure 1. It appears 

that most bog bodies date from 

the Late Iron Age / Roman period (ca. 

2nd century BC - 4th century AD). For 

example, Radiocarbon measurements 

indicate that the Yde girl shown in fi gure 

6, dates between 40 BC and 50 AD. 

Final remarks 

Peat bogs are powerful archives of the 

past. Their botanical remains form a 

record of the ecological circumstances 

like climate. In addition, 

intriguing 

prehistoric cultural 

evidence came to 

light during the peat 

cutting era. This illustrates 

the old saying 

that “in order to understand 

the present 

one needs to understand 

the past”. 

The most spectacular 

archaeological 

fi nds are the bog 

bodies, several of 

which had been executed 

(like the Yde 

girl, but also Tollund 

man and others), as 

proven by strangulation 

ropes. Most 

archaeologists think 

that these bodies are 

offerings, but this 

remains speculation. 

It is certain, however, 

that the peat bogs did function as places 

to offer. There is no other explanation 

for the occurrence of many pots 

with valuable amber beads (sometimes 

thousands), and Nordic bronze musical 

instruments (lures) which are found in 

pairs in the peat and which must have 

been extremely valuable for prehistoric 

man. 

In terms of the palaeoclimate, peat 

bogs suggest that past variations in the 

activity of the sun have been important 

contributing factors for climate 

change. This issue - “solar forcing” 

of climate change - is now back on 

the scientifi c agenda, in addition to 

the more generally recognised “CO 2 

(greenhouse) forcing”. It is obviously 

crucial that the role of “solar forcing” 

be taken into account in evaluating the 

anthropogenic contribution to climate 

change of our planet. � 

Selected literature 

M.Blaauw, B.van Geel, and J.van der 

Plicht, 2004. Solar forcing of climatic 

change during the mid-Holocene: 

indications from raised bogs in the Netherlands. 

The Holocene 14, 35-44. 

B.van Geel, J.van der Plicht, 

M.R.Kilian, E.R.Klaver, 

J.H.M.Kouwenberg, H.Renssen, I. Reynaud- 

Farrera, and H.T.Waterbolk, 1998. The 

sharp rise of 14 C ca. 800 cal BC: possible 

causes, related climatic connections 

and the impact on human environments. 

Radiocarbon 40, 535-550. 

R.A. Kerr, 2001. A variable sun paces 

millennial climate. Science 294, 

1431-1433. 

J.van der Plicht, W.A.B.van der Sanden, 

A.T.Aerts and H.J.Streurman, 2004. 

Dating Bog Bodies by 14 C-AMS. Journal 

of Archaeological Science 31, 

471-491. 

J.D. Haigh, 2001. Climate variability 

and the infl uence of the sun. Nature 

294, 2109-2111. 

J. van der Plicht 

Center for Isotope Research 

Groningen University 

Groningen, the Netherlands and 

Faculty of Archaeology 

Leiden University 

Leiden, the Netherlands 

e-mail: j.van.der.plicht@rug.nl 

Figure 6: a) Yde Girl, the bog body of a 16 year old girl found in 1897 near the village of Yde, the Netherlands. Note the woollen band used to 

strangle the girl, visible around her neck. b) reconstruction of the head of the Yde girl. 

49

Future IPS Conferences and Symposia 

Canadian National Committee 

Semi-Annual Meeting of the Canadian 

Sphagnum Peat Moss Association 

Rivière-du-Loup, Canada, 8 - 9 June 2006 

More info: www.peatmoss.com 

Dutch National Committee 

Annual Assembly 

The Netherlands, 15 June 2006 

More info: www.veengenootschap.nl 

IPS-IMCG and Ramsar CC-GAP Meetings 

Meripuisto, Espoo, Finland, 28 - 29 July 

Scientifi c Advisory Board Meeting No. 5 

Amsterdam, the Netherlands 


Commission II 

Peat in Horticulture - Peat in the 

Stranglehold of Interest Groups 

Amsterdam, the Netherlands 


More info: s.vanderhout@bureauenthoven.nl 

Events of related organisations 

25 Years Mire Protection Programme in Lower Saxony 

Hanover, Germany, 14 June 2006 

More info: www.dgmtev.de 

International Mire Conference 

Diepholz, Germany, 15 - 17 June 2006 

More info: www.dgmtev.de 

3rd Workshop and Course on Wetland Water Management 

Biebrza, Poland, 26 June - 2 July 2006 

More info: http://levis.sggw.waw.pl/wethydro 

18th World Congress of Soil Science 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 9 - 15 July 2006 

More info: www.colostate.edu/programs/IUSS/18wcss 

IMCG Field Symposium and General Assembly 

Kittilä to Tammela, Finland, 13 - 26 July 2006 

More info: www.imcg.net 

Living with Climate Variability and Change: 

Understanding the Uncertainties and Managing the Risks 

Espoo, Finland 17 - 21 July 2006 

More info: www.livingwithclimate.fi 

Academic Course in Peatland Ecology 

Uppsala, Sweden, 26 July - 25 August 2006 

http://www.ibg.uu.se/en/courses/1BL157E 

27th ISHS International Horticultural Congress 

Seoul, Korea, 10 - 18 August 2006 

More info: www.ishs.org 

5th European Conference on Ecological Restoration 

Land Use Changes in Europe as a Challenge for Restoration 

Greifswald, Germany 22 - 25 August 2006 + excursion in Poland 

More info: www.uni-greifswald.de/SER2006 

A frequently updated list of IPS events and symposia of related organisations is 

posted at www.peatsociety.org. To inform us about future happenings of interest 

for IPS members, please contact ips@peatsociety.org. 


Executive Board Meeting No. 35 

Deerfi eld Beach, Florida, USA, 

November 2006 

Canadian National Committee 

Annual Meeting of the Canadian Sphagnum 

Peat Moss Association 

Deerfi eld Beach, Florida, USA, 8 - 12 November 2006 

More info: www.peatmoss.com 

Peatlands and Climate Change Working Group 

3rd Meeting, February 2007 

IPS Annual Assembly of National Representatives 

Riga, Latvia, 24 - 26 May 2007 

13th International Peat Congress 

After Wise Use - The Future of Peatlands 

Tullamore, Ireland, 9 - 15 June 2008 

14th International Peat Congress 

Peatlands in Balance 

Stockholm, Sweden, 3 - 8 June 2012 

Bog Snorkelling World Championship 

Llanwrtyd Wells, UK, 28 August 2006 

More info: http://llanwrtyd-wells.powys.org.uk 

New Challenges in the Management of Boreal Forests 

Umeå, Sweden, 28-30 August 2006 

More info: www.ibfra.org/page.cfm?page=11 

5th Scientifi c School Bogs and Biosphere 

Tomsk, Russia, 11 - 14 September 2006 

Please contact: sibniit@mail.tomsknet.ru, onti@tspu.edu.ru 

Nature and Land Management of Tropical Peatland in 

South East Asia 

Bogor, Indonesia, 20 - 21 September 2006 

Please contact: herbolon@indo.net.id 

42nd German Peat and Humus Day 

Bad Zwischenahn, Germany, 12 October 2006 

More info: www.ivg.org 

HortiFair 2006 

Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 31 October - 3 November 2006 

More info: www.hortifair.nl 

Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2006 

International Horticultural Exposition for His Majesty the King 

Chiang Mai, Thailand, 1 November 2006 - 31 January 2007 

More info: www.royalfl oraexpo.com 

Information for Advertisers 

If you wish to place your advertisement in 

Peatlands International, please contact 

Susann Warnecke at the IPS Secretariat. 

phone: +358 14 3385 440 

e-mail: susann.warnecke@peatsociety.org

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