Attitudes to peatlands are changing. They are no longer seen as valueless wastelands, but are now appreciated as precious habitats that deliver significant ecosystem services. Peatlands have become key components in national and international strategies on biodiversity, climate change mitigation and water retention.

The conference celebrates the end of an era with a last gathering of the Interreg North-West Europe project Care-Peat, but also the continuation and beginning of new cooperative peatland projects throughout Europe.

Effective conservation and restoration requires the development and sharing of knowledge. Although significant progress has been made in recent years, there are still many questions to be answered. These cannot be tackled in isolation, but require scientists, managers and decision-makers to work together. After all, only large-scale mobilisation and cooperation will ensure that we can put peatlands back at the heart of our society.

During the conference we will jointly discuss questions and solutions through lectures, workshops and field visits in Belgium and The Netherlands. We will learn from each other how to strengthen, restore, monitor and promote our precious peatlands.

 
The event is organised by Natuurpunt, University of Antwerp and the partners of Interreg Care-Peat and ADMIRE, together with the European chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration, the International Mire Conservation Group, Wetlands International, Greifswald Mire Centre and the Society of Wetland Scientists.