Moors as climate protectors

Not only do they make an important contribution to preserving biodiversity, they are also the most effective carbon stores: moors are an important part of climate protection - and their preservation is under threat, as around 500,000 hectares of moorland are destroyed worldwide every year. In Germany alone, 95 percent of moors have now been drained. For many centuries, moors were drained for land and peat extraction, which was used as fuel. Nowadays, peat is mainly used as a plant substrate in garden and potting soil. The challenge this poses is that drained peatlands emit a large amount of greenhouse gases.

Kaufland, together with its project partners Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Germany and the Association of German Nature Parks (VDN), wants to counteract this with a project for the renaturation of moors. In this way, they are committed to effective and long-term climate protection with suitable measures directly on site.

Why moors matter to the food retail sector

Moors only cover three percent of the world's land area and yet they absorb a third of the carbon produced on earth. That is twice as much as all the world's forests put together. This enormous potential has not been sufficiently taken into account in climate protection for a long time. Now Kaufland wants to help change this, because: As a food retailer with its own products, Kaufland is dependent on intact ecosystems with a large variety of species, healthy soils and sufficient water supplies.

Over a period of more than three years, the project is committed to the renaturation of a total of five moor complexes in Germany, which will be rewetted and renaturalized. In addition, wet grassland and floodplains, which also store considerable amounts of carbon, are being restored as part of the project. By the end of the project, around 170 hectares of moorland will have been restored to a near-natural state and over 340 hectares of wet grassland and floodplains will have been renaturalized.

A lot of effort - but worth it

How many and which measures are taken to renaturalize a moor varies depending on the location. As a rule, the drainage ditches that have been created need to be closed in order to restore a permanently high water level. New peat mosses can then grow in wet, dammed-up areas, which over time lead to a thick layer of peat, the actual bog soil. The peat acts as a natural carbon store. At the same time, the restoration of the ecological balance in the moor leads to the establishment of rare animal and plant species. In times of extreme heat, intact moors also act as water reservoirs, while during floods they have a sponge function. The restoration work is planned and supervised by local experts.

Moors as indispensable helpers in the fight against climate change

“To preserve endangered species, to help prevent droughts and floods and to store carbon, peatlands, alluvial zones and wet grasslands fulfill the most pressing tasks posed by climate change. In order to protect these habitats, we therefore believe that it is necessary to go beyond simply restoring them to educate people about how important moors, floodplains and wet grassland are for the climate,” says Ines Rottwilm, who is responsible for the sustainability strategy at Kaufland. Part of the project will therefore also include educational work on the subject of moors. For example, guided tours with school classes or volunteer assignments for renaturation in the respective nature parks are planned. In 2025, the plan is to go one step further: Once the renaturation has been initiated, Kaufland wants to get involved in the further development of the agricultural and forestry use of rewetted moorland. “But this is just one of numerous initiatives that we have launched for the climate,” says Rottwilm.

Visitors can get their own impression of a moor at the Grüne Woche - because Kaufland will have a small moor on its stand alongside a wide range of other activities relating to its nutrition and climate strategy. Stop by in Hall 3.2 Stand 211.

This blog post is a contribution from Kaufland Germany.