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Good practice Imported

National Peatland Rewetting Programme (Sweden)

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Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 64% 40/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Sweden's government-funded wetland rewetting budget line restored 2,100 ha of drained land in 2023 alone (1,500 ha peatland, 588 projects), cutting an estimated 6.1 kt CO2eq — a 2025 peer-reviewed evaluation says long-term monitoring data are still scarce.

2,100 ha
Wetland area rewetted (2023)
1,500 ha
Peatland area rewetted (2023)
588
Rewetting projects funded (2023)
6.1 kt CO2eq
Estimated avoided emissions (2023)
2
Long-term BACI monitoring sites nationally
National Peatland Rewetting Programme (Sweden)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Naturvårdsverket (Swedish Environmental Protection Agency)
Period
2018–2023 (ongoing)
Keywords
peatland rewetting, wetland restoration, climate mitigation, government funding

Context

Sweden's drained organic soils used for agriculture and forestry emit greenhouse gases roughly equivalent to the country's passenger-car traffic. Naturvårdsverket (the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency) administers a dedicated government rewetting budget line under the "Myllrande våtmarker" (Thriving Wetlands) environmental objective and the National Strategy for Thriving Wetlands, recognised by the Ramsar Convention.

Objectives

The programme aims to rewet drained peatland and other organic wetland soils to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and restore hydrology, as part of Sweden's national wetlands strategy.

Activities

Naturvårdsverket funds individual rewetting projects submitted by landowners and local actors; in 2023 this supported 588 separate projects raising water tables on formerly drained organic soils.

Results

In 2023 the programme rewetted 2,100 hectares of drained wetland (about 1,500 hectares of peatland specifically) across 588 projects, for an estimated 6.1 kt CO2eq in avoided emissions that year. A 2025 peer-reviewed evaluation (Ambio) found this climate benefit is directionally clear but not yet verified to carbon-credit standard: national emission-factor estimates for rewetted boreal peatland are largely extrapolated from natural-peatland analogues, with only two long-term before-after-control-impact (BACI) monitoring sites (Trollberget, Skogaryd) in the whole country.

Conclusions

At the current pace of roughly 1,500 hectares of peatland rewetted per year, Sweden still has several million hectares of drained peatland to address, and the 2025 evaluation recommends expanding direct post-rewetting monitoring before the programme's climate benefit could support a formal carbon-credit standard.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — Government-funded national budget line supporting hundreds of projects per year (588 in 2023); exact annual budget figure not disclosed in source material.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Ongoing government programme since at least 2018, expected to continue over many years given several million hectares of drained peatland still to address at current annual pace.
Staffing & skills
Naturvårdsverket (Swedish Environmental Protection Agency) programme administrators, Local landowners and project proponents implementing individual rewetting projects

Conditions for success

  • Sustained multi-year government budget allocation
  • Landowner willingness to participate and access to drained organic-soil land
  • Expanded long-term BACI monitoring to verify emission-factor estimates

Common failure modes

  • Emission-factor estimates still largely extrapolated from natural-peatland analogues rather than direct post-rewetting measurement
  • Only two long-term BACI monitoring sites nationally, limiting verifiability to a formal carbon-credit standard

Where it fits

Governance type
national government agency programme
Scale
national
Income level
high-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes LIFE Programme

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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