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Start for MOOSland

for tiny moss on large scale

11/01/2024 With MOOSland, a small plant is supposed to make a big impact – peat moss. This can be grown as a renewable raw material to replace peat in horticulture with great benefits for the climate and the economy. Over the next ten years, MOOSland wants to implement the cultivation and utilization of peat moss biomass, which has already been researched in pilot projects, on a large scale. When grassland is being rewetted for climate protection reasons, the cultivation of peat moss offers an alternative to current drainage-based agriculture. Peat moss stores water in its cells, up to 30 times its own weight. Thus, it provides a renewable raw material with similar properties to the peat formed from it. It is therefore ideal as a peat substitute. MOOSland will now help to investigate and implement peat moss paludiculture on a large scale in an ecologically, economically and socially compatible way. MOOSland is a model and demonstration project by the University of Greifswald and seven partners from Lower Saxony. The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) is supporting the project with a total of around 12.5 million euros from the Climate Transformation Fund (KTF); The project sponsor is the Agency for Renewable Raw Materials (FNR).