Understanding Land-Use Conflicts in Social-Ecological Transformations: The Case of Establishing Paludicultures as Climate-Smart Farming on Rewetted Organic Soils in Germany

Paludiculture is a concept introduced by Hans Joosten (1998) to describe the agricultural and forestry use of wet (and rewetted) organic soils. These soils primarily formed in bogs and fens and were historically utilized only at their fringes as marginal land. Significant yields were achieved after they were drained on a large scale. In peatland-rich European countries such as the Netherlands and Germany, the cultivation of these soils was seen as a measure to improve the population's food situation. A reassessment of this type of utilization is gaining traction, as climate change research has highlighted that drained organic soils emit significant amounts of greenhouse gases. Establishing paludiculture as a new cultivation method is regarded as a means of significantly reducing CO2 emissions in the so-called LULUCF sector. In Germany, 95% of peatlands are still drained and mostly used by farmers as grassland, for livestock farming, or as arable land (e.g., for growing maize and potatoes), often highly profitable. The federal government and some state governments offer incentive programs to encourage the rewetting of organic soils and their conversion to paludiculture. While the vast majority of farmers are reluctant to change their business structures, niche networks of actors – landowners and land managers, scientists, entrepreneurs – have formed who are open to the rewetting of drained peat soils and their management. Furthermore, real-world experiments with various paludiculture practices have recently been launched to clarify practical and economic issues relating to the conversion. Nevertheless, it remains an open question to what extent farmers are prepared to adapt their existing farming methods to enable the large-scale rewetting of organic soils that is desired. As social scientists, we have approached the conflicts underlying this socio-ecological transformation process through a multi-level perspective (Geels & Schot, 2007). The innovative networks of actors striving to rewet drained peatlands and establishing paludicultures are opposed by the so-called incumbents, who aim to maintain the status quo while potentially seeking additional options to develop existing farms. For example, if a farmer has no successor but can generate an income from the farm for retirement by installing photovoltaic systems on wet moorland to produce electricity, this option is welcome. However, large-scale rewetting, which substantially contributes to climate protection, is still viewed with skepticism as it challenges the established agricultural regime on drained peat soils. In our presentation, we will explore this transformation process, drawing on our involvement in transdisciplinary and applied research projects. By using various data (e.g., transcribed interviews, observation protocols, media articles, etc.) and applying different data analysis techniques, we reconstruct different perspectives of actors involved regarding the opportunities and risks of this transformation process and analyze the social relations of cooperation and conflict in the field. Our current state of research allows us to draw conclusions about how the discourses on rewetting and paludiculture are structured in Germany. We can also demonstrate the structural dynamics influencing farmers’ decisions about the future development of their peatland-based farms and discuss the factors affecting owners of peatland soils who are not directly involved in land management. Based on these findings, we will outline the next research steps and, building on this, discuss what can be learned from our experiences for the development of complex transdisciplinary research designs in socio-ecological transformation processes