The conference will be this year’s biggest European peatland symposium. During the three-day event, we will zoom in on both the scientific, management and policy aspects of peatland restoration and conservation. The last day will include visits to important peatland sites in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Participants 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.
Registrations will close on 1 September. The conference is fully booked with 550 registrations at the moment. If you are registering now, you will be put on a waiting list, and contacted the latest on 20 August if a seat becomes available. It will also be possible to view the event online – information about how to livestream the conference will be provided.
The conference is free of charge. It includes two optional networking dinners where a financial contribution is required when submitting your registration.
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 our vital peatlands back at the heart of our society.
The conference is organised by Natuurpunt, the University of Antwerp and the Interreg Care-Peat and ADMIRE project partners, together with the European chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration, the International Mire Conservation Group, Greifswald Mire Centre (a Wetlands International Europe member) and the Society of Wetland Scientists. Wetlands International Europe is an organisation partner for the event.
The day before the conference, the Michael Succow Foundation, partner of the Greifswald Mire Centre, BUND, Friends of the Earth Germany and the Heinrich Böll Foundation will launch their Peatlands Atlas 2023, aiming to raise awareness about peatlands, including information from different regions and providing options on how decision-makers and society can act now. The event will take place in Brussels. More information and registration via here.