News
2025
MoorMic on Air
Peatland sound live & recorded
2/09/2025 MoorMic/KoosMic – the microphone for the sound of the landscape directly from the coastal peatland – for everyone to listen to! KoosMic, because this new listening station is located on the island of Koos just outside Greifswald. From there, it transmits live and in recorded soundscapes of the surrounding habitats, the sounds of peatland meadows, pastures, and hedges. Wind in the reeds, rain on the shore, cows snorting, cranes calling – depending on the weather and season.
The MoorMic/KoosMic is part of the global acoustic cartography radio.aporee by media artist Udo Noll. He worked on it together with students of “Acoustic Ecologies and Sound Studies” at the Bauhaus University Weimar and their professor Kerstin Ergenzinger. Unobtrusive, virtually maintenance-free, solar-powered, and installed with minimal impact on the landscape – the group has successfully implemented its criteria for the MoorMic/KoosMic. The MoorMic has been transmitting since early summer. It has only had to be moved once so far. Cows had been sniffing at it too wildly.
The listening station is intended to promote awareness and perception of the environment. In line with the interdisciplinary research of “acoustic ecology,” it enables the condition and changes in landscapes to be recorded via sound. It is also about sharing and documenting the sound of the world. Almost everyone captures their world in pictures and videos, but what about sound snippets?
The island sound of the marshy coast of Greifswald Bay is available thanks to MoorMic/KoosMic – from anywhere, anytime, and for everyone. For a listening session, simply tune in at radio.aporee.org:8443/koosmic.
Agriculture on Europe's peatlands?
New map shows where
1/09/2025 Across Europe many wetlands are drained for agriculture, releasing vast amounts of CO₂ into the atmosphere. Identifying where these drainage “hot spots” occur—whether for arable crops or grassland—is critical to promoting wet alternatives such as paludiculture. As part of the project Building the European Peatlands Initiative: A Strong Alliance for Peatland Climate Protection in Europe, researchers have combined the latest European Wetland Map with land cover data to produce a new map showing the agricultural use of peatlands in the European Union and several neighboring countries (Verlinkung von GMC). This map offers valuable insights for policymakers, conservationists, and the interested public seeking sustainable solutions. The map is based on data from the Global Peatland Database (GPD), which collates and integrates data on location, extent and drainage status of peatlands and organic soils worldwide and for 268 individual countries and regions.
The project is part of the European Climate Initiative (EUKI), funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Project partners include Eurosite, CEEweb and the European Landowners’ Organization (ELO).
Pioniering for more practice
in planting reed
27/08/2025 80,000 young plants have been planted in the Bargischow-Süd polder in Vorpommern since mid-July. An impressive action! As part of the Paludi-MV project, a dense, high-quality reed bed is to be created here for agricultural use. A tractor with a strip tiller has drawn long rows in the grass on the previous grassland before a soil auger prepared the planting holes, and the seedlings were transported and planted in the field using a quad. After planting, the area will be flooded. The harvest is planned for winter when the plants have lost their leaves and no birds are nesting. In the past, fodder for livestock was grown here, but due to high water levels and soil degradation, the quality was inadequate. Long-term drainage has decomposed the peat, and the polder has settled by over a meter in height. Today, it is therefore one meter below sea level. This is where the reeds come into play as an alternative! They can be used for thatched roof, plaster carriers, insulation boards or cellulose for papers and cartons. Since experience in reed cultivation is still rare, PaludiMV is examining the costs and challenges of planning and implementation.
The pilot project "Paludi-MV" is jointly implemented by the Landgesellschaft Mecklenburg-Vorpommern mbH und der Universität Greifswald , and it is funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment . The goal is to test paludiculture on two polder areas: Bargischow-Süd (LK Vorpommern-Greifswald) and Sandhagen (LK Mecklenburg Lake District).
Capturing the value of wetlands – digitally
The Paludiculture Interview
25/08/2025 What is the value of peatlands? How can the ecosystem values of rewetted areas in particular be captured and quantified? With the Moormonitor, product designer and peatland enthusiast Milan Bergheim and his colleagues in the Valpeats project are developing an economical and practical monitoring system for this purpose. The aim is to enable peatland areas to be rewetted more quickly and over a larger area and used for paludiculture. Read the full interview here.
Moorkoffer, the Second
Even Moore Fun and a Song Collection
28/07/2025 The Moorkoffer 2 (in german) is not a finished suitcase – it is a collection of educational materials for peatland and climate education, designed for teachers, environmental educators, volunteers, and anyone actively engaged in education for sustainable development.
The publication contains 50 methods: from soil drilling and role-playing games to experiments, meditations, and creative reflection formats. These methods are flexible, location-based, and adaptable to different needs – they can be used even without access to a real peatland. All materials are freely available and can be used and shared under the CC BY-NC license, meaning non-commercial use with attribution.
Additionally, there's the musical audio play "Im Libellenwunderland" (in german) for children in daycare centers and primary schools, which playfully explores topics such as biodiversity, water scarcity, and climate change. It is available on Spotify, YouTube, and SoundCloud. The booklet “IM.MOOR.SEIN.”, designed to promote mindful sensory experiences in peatlands, guides individuals and groups of all ages through all four seasons. All materials were developed as part of the MoKKa project by the Succow Foundation and the University of Greifswald.