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Mire defence tech for Europe

Tank submerged in bog (image generated with the help of AI)

New GMC paper on peatlands & security

27/06/2025  Peatlands not only help in the fight against climate change, they also provide natural defence in military conflicts. In view of the current war between Russia and Ukraine, this new information paper from the Greifswald Mire Centre advocates the rewetting of peatlands, particularly in border regions, as a measure for Europe's security and defence capability. The paper recommends establishing an EU fund of €250-500 million to finance the rewetting of 100,000 ha as a measure within the EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF).
The paper sees further advantages: Rewetting would fulfill a component of the EU Nature Restoration Law. Issuing emission certificates for rewetting peatlands would arouse the economy’s interest and get it involved. Simultaneously, ecological benefits such as the protection of biodiversity or water filtration and retention can be achieved.
In 1500, farmers of Dithmarsch defeated the Danish army in the ‘Hemmingstedter Moor’.  Napoleon's armies were literally bogged down in the peatlands of Russia. Peatlands & defence are not a new topic, as these examples show. For the authors of the information paper, however, it is particularly urgent now to rethink defence and to bring rewetting also for military purposes into current political discussions.
Notably, the media has started to spotlight this topic, such as Yale Environment 360's article "How Restored Wetlands Can Protect Europe from Russian Invasion" or the Dutch radio programme Vroege Vogels.

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