23/08/2023 In the UN Decade Project of the Year 2023 competition, there are three projects with GMC participation in the top 10 - a recognition of the importance of peatlands in the climate and biodiversity crisis, but also of the efforts to protect and preserve them.

toMOORow , the initiative with a forward-looking name from the Michael Otto Environmental Foundation and the Succow Foundation, partner in the Greifswald Mire Centre, is committed to wet bogs and sustainable management on peatlands. Its aim is to use the diverse peatland properties for climate and biodiversity protection and also for the economy. In practical terms, it waters areas in Brandenburg, activates companies to utilize paludi biomass and is committed to the necessary political framework. The Karrendorfer Wiesen, an area owned by the Succow Foundation, received one of the ten places as an example of successful restoration. The coastal flood peatland offers 350 hectares of rare salt grassland, where natural coastal and flood dynamics prevail and rare animal and plant species occur, especially limicols and other water birds, while at the same time carbon is stored in the peat.

MoorFutures is also in the top 10. It refers to innovative certificates for the restoration of peatlands. One MoorFutures represents one ton of avoided carbon dioxide from peatlands, and private individuals and companies can use it to actively make a contribution to combating the climate crisis. They were developed in cooperation with scientists from the GMC and the Ministry of the Environment of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The United Nations has declared the years 2021 to 2030 as the UN Decade for the Restoration of Ecosystems. They assume that the next ten years will be crucial in the fight against climate change and global species extinction. Restoring damaged ecosystems is central to this. That's why the United Nations wants to use this UN Decade to mobilize people around the world to recognize the benefits of ecosystems and work to restore them. They also want to create the necessary political will to restore ecosystems. In Germany, the Federal Environment Ministry (BMUV) and the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) honor current, representative projects for the restoration, preservation or maintenance of ecosystems. The projects mentioned are among the top 10 in the “Mires and Wetlands” competition round.