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Value From the Carbon Market for the Next Land Use of Peat Production Areas (ArvoHiili)
- Project research area
- Geoenvironment
- Project duration
- 01.10.2023 - 30.06.2026
Introduction
The need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Finland and the European Union puts pressure on directing areas towards land use practices that maintain carbon stocks and on developing systems where landowners generate income from emission reductions. The ArvoHiili project responds to this need in the South Ostrobothnia region in areas released from peat extraction. The goal is to explore the possibilities and conditions for carbon market activities in these areas.
The project focuses on assessing the scientific-technical, legal-administrative, and economic prerequisites for creating value from maintaining carbon stocks and carbon sequestration through paludiculture and restoration. The project is carried out in collaboration with the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK), the University of Eastern Finland (UEF), the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), and Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (SeAMK), along with local landowners.
The following types of land use and value chains originating from them are considered:
1. Mire creation
2. Short-rotation cultivation of willow with high water level, conventional cultivation as a control
3. Cultivation of reed canary grass with high water level, conventional cultivation as a control
4. Cultivation of Sphagnum moss
5. Cattail (Typha spp.) paludiculture
The Geological Survey of Finland and Natural Resources Institute Finland will produce information on the climatic effects of the high-water-level land-use forms and compare them with the business-as-usual scenario based on the current land use. Also, they will form practices for the reliable and cost-effective measurement and evaluation of greenhouse gas balances. The University of Eastern Finland will investigate the current and prospective regulation of carbon credit production at former peat extraction sites and the possibilities for climate-friendly and economically beneficial value chains built on the emission-reducing land-uses. Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences will facilitate local cooperation of the actors in South Ostrobothnia.
The project receives funding from the European Union’s Just Transition Fund (JTF).
Contact person: Liisa Maanavilja
