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Paludiculture​

The productive use of wet and rewetted peatlands

Paludiculture, or wetter farming, is the practice of growing crops that are suited to wetland conditions, often peatland. By carefully changing existing land drainage to raise the water table, these crops can then be farmed, ensuring the land remains financially viable.

Draining water from peatlands causes the carbon that was locked up in the peat to oxidise and be released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. The restoration of a higher water table and rewetting the peat locks the carbon in the peat and significantly reduces the greenhouse gas emissions.

For a further introduction to paludiculture read the Natural England blog “Paludiculture – the future of farming on peat soils?“ and the The Lancashire Wildlife Trust "What is wetter farming?" blog post.

For a more comprehensive appraisal of paludiculture:

A guide to support the practical implementation of paludiculture systems

Managing for a sustainable future: Cropping systems on drained lowland peat (pdf)

Impacts of paludiculture on the natural environment: a scoping report (pdf)

News

News
Lowland peat solutions - rethinking farming on lowland peat
44:22
Raising the water table at Langley Abbey to protect peat | Paludiculture in the Broads National Park
08:13
We used a drone to sow bulrush seeds at our wetter farming typha trial
05:12
Making wetter farming a reality
06:28
Wetter farming: A farmers’ perspective
04:45
What is wetter farming?
03:37

Videos

Videos

Talking Paludiculture

The Talking Paludiculture vlog is hosted by Megan Hudson (Fenland Soil), (https://vimeo.com/showcase/talking-paludiculture-pod). The podacasts are hosted by Elizabeth Stockdale (Niab). A new episode will be published every second week.

Experiences in the Lancashire Mosses (1)

Chris Field – Manchester Metropolitan University, Jenny Bennion – Lancashire Wildlife Trust, and Mike Longden - Lancashire Wildlife Trust

  • Winmarleigh Carbon Farm

  • Economics for farming carbon compared with low intensity grazing

  • Opportunities and challenges for paludiculture crops

Experiences from the Somerset Levels: part 1

Damon Bridge – RSPB, delivering a Landscape Recovery programme and Mike Stanton, Chair of Somerset Rivers Authority

  • Landscape and land use within Somerset Levels

  • Flood risk management with increasing extreme weather

  • Exploring landscape change opportunities

  • The role of paludiculture in landscape transitions

  • Challenges to change for farming systems

Experiences from the Somerset Levels: part 2

Will Barnard – Farmer and FWAG-SW and Anna Lantaff – FWAG-SW

  • On-going work with farmer groups in the Somerset Levels

  • Experiences trying to grow Typha (bullrush) as a crop

  • The vision of mosaic landscapes with protected sites, wetter grasslands, paludi-crops and green finance options

The science behind the spotlight on lowland peat (audio only)

Chris Evans - UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology

Peat are highly productive black soils, in this podcast Chris and Elizabeth discuss their importance in carbon management and their importance in helping us to achieve net zero. First published in December 2023 as part of the future farming resiliance podcast series.

Useful publications

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A guide to support practical implementation of paludiculture systems

This guide is intended to provide guidance and support for the conversion of land and farms to paludiculture and is primarily aimed at farmers and owners of peatland who are considering or already planning this conversion. The aim of the guide is to summarise current knowledge and present the individual steps needed for conversion clearly.

A translation of the Leitfaden Fur Die Umsetzung Von Paludikultur

2025

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Design Guide to Support Water Table and Water Resource Management in the Broads National Park

The Broads Authority have worked with the Environment Agency to develop a design guide to help interested farmers and landowners plan and implement watertable management strategies. The guide focusses on the typical policy, constraints, and opportunities for water supply, water level management and the permissions required for the restoration of degraded lowland peat

Broads Authority

2025

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Impacts of paludiculture on the natural environment: a scoping report

Impacts of paludiculture on the natural environment: a scoping report focussing on English lowland peat landscapes and providing an overview of:

  1. observed and potential impacts of paludiculture on the natural environment, specifically soils, hydrology, water quality, biodiversity, and landscape character and heritage,

  2. management options to minimise negative and maximise positive impacts,

  3. open research questions and knowledge gaps related to these impacts, and

  4. strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to paludiculture and its impacts on the natural environment.

Taylor NG & Stockdale EA

2025

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Potential markets for paludiculture crops

Paludiculture has been proposed as a potential solution for maintaining the profitable use of lowland peatlands whilst significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, underpinning the success of paludiculture is the market viability of paludiculture products.

Katy Ross, Defra

2025

More paliudiculture resources can be found here>>

About us

Events

  • Holme Fen case study: the challenges of peat restoration in lowland fens
    Holme Fen case study: the challenges of peat restoration in lowland fens
    20 Oct 2025, 13:00 – 14:00
    Webinar
    The challenges of raising the water table on some of the lowest peatland in England
  • The Fenland Flora - Survival against the odds
    The Fenland Flora - Survival against the odds
    17 Nov 2025, 13:00 – 14:00
    Webinar
    Fenland has all too often been dismissed as boring and with little biodiversity value outside the washes and a few NNRs. Aquatic botany expert Owen Mountford will talk about the Fenland Flora project, highlighting the vital importance of the region, especially for aquatic plants.
  • Wetter farming and paludiculture workshop
    Wetter farming and paludiculture workshop
    Wed 03 Dec
    Living Lab, ARU Peterborough
    03 Dec 2025, 12:00 – 05 Dec 2025, 13:00
    Living Lab, ARU Peterborough, University House, Bishop's Rd, Peterborough PE1 5BW, UK
    An opportunity to share outcomes and reflect on key learnings from • Paludiculture Exploration Fund Projects • LAP Water Discovery Pilots • LAP Small Infrastructure Pilots
  • Conference: Managing carbon and water in lowland landscapes
    Conference: Managing carbon and water in lowland landscapes
    20 Jan 2026, 09:30 – 16:30
    Norwich, University of East Anglia Research Park, University Dr, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
    A conference on "Managing carbon and water in lowland landscapes: integrated approaches to floodplain and peatland resilience"
Projects

Research

Working together to explore a range of innovative solutions

Taking Typha to scale on the Somerset Levels and Moors

FWAG-SW are leading a partnership to take Typha to commercial scale in Somerset with studies ranging from establishment to biomass harvesting.

Willow production

This project is using willow to determine the best practices for the sustainable production of a commercial crop whilst protecting and preserving the peat on West Sedgemoor, Somerset.

Fenland SOIL Fens paludiculture opportunity exploration

Expanding Fenland SOIL’s opportunity mapping project to four new drainage boards using the methodology developed by Fenland SOIL

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