Climate mitigation and adaptation potentials in Bavarian peatlands

Project duration 2019-2022

funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection (StMUV)

funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

Throughout Bavaria, 95% of peatlands (approx. 220,000 ha) have been drained and are mostly under agricultural and forestry use. As a result, they lose their natural ability to store carbon and instead become significant sources of greenhouse gases. Drained peatlands are responsible for around five percent of Bavaria's total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU 2012) as well as the Climate Action Plan 2050 of the Federal Government (German Federal Government 2016) and the Climate Policy Programme Bavaria 2050 (KliP 2050) are calling for steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from peatlands. This is to be achieved through implementing climate mitigation and adaptation measures for peatlands.

In Bavaria there has been a particularly strong focus on the climate mitigation potential of peatlands in recent years. The Free State has created a master plan "Moore in Bayern" in order to bundle all peatland-related endeavours. In addition, a central goal of the Bavarian Climate Initiative is to reduce emissions from Bavaria's peatlands by at least a third until 2050. In order to achieve this goal and, if possible, exceed it, a comprehensive strategy is required which

creates a technical basis for deriving climate mitigation and adaptation measures
identifies knowledge gaps
prioritises areas for action

shows climate mitigation and adaptation potentials in Bavarian peatlands based on spatial, content-based and temporal scenarios up to 2050
develops a monitoring concept to assess if objectives have been achieved

The results of the KliMoBay network will support the Bavarian peatland master plan in the implementation of its central points.

A key task of the project is to compile all available previous measurements of greenhouse gas fluxes, water levels and vegetation in Bavarian peatlands. These will than be analysed further with the aim of calculating scenario-based water levels and greenhouse gas emissions for all Bavarian peatlands from today to 2050. In addition, the KliMoBay project is developing the first climate mitigation potential maps and adaptation potential maps for the whole of Bavaria. These maps will include an associated package of measures for the period up to 2050, which will be differentiated in terms of space, content and time. Annual total area emission maps will be calculated based on models to establish a framework for efficiency control.

In the KliMoBay project, peatland ecologists, hydrologists, soil scientists, remote sensing scientists and climate modellers collaborate closely with each other and thus ensure a successful interdisciplinary implementation of the project.