LIFE Peat Restore — Fen Rewetting in Słowiński National Park (Poland)

LIFE Peat Restore (LIFE15 CCM/DE/000138, 2016-2021/22) was an EU LIFE Climate Action project coordinated by the German NGO NABU e.V., working across five countries - Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - to rewet degraded bogs and fens as a climate-mitigation measure. The Polish component was led by Klub Przyrodników (Naturalists' Club) in and around Słowiński National Park.

The project aimed to rewet degraded peatlands to mitigate climate change and to allow characteristic fen vegetation to regenerate.

Across all five countries the project rewetted roughly 5,300 hectares over 11 sites, including about 1,350 hectares in Poland, by constructing 214 dams from natural, locally available materials and removing encroaching trees and shrubs. The consortium applied the GEST (Greenhouse Gas Emission Site Types) method to estimate greenhouse-gas impacts and published a 'Best Practice Book' for other EU peatland projects to follow.

The GEST modelling method estimated a 30% reduction in global warming potential at restored sites. The total project budget was approximately €5.94 million, of which €3.55 million was an EU contribution.

The project's results are consortium-level, EU co-funded modelling rather than independently third-party-certified carbon credits, and the Polish component is one part of a five-country project rather than a stand-alone national programme.