Mr Jahn, how do you actually protect a moor?
The best way is to buy or lease the land. At the Loki Schmidt Foundation, we then restore the moors to a near-natural state – by rewetting them and clearing them of saplings or brambles, for instance. We also mow the land and ensure that grazing animals keep the landscape clear. And just picking up rubbish is part of the job sometimes too.
The foundation has already secured over 140 hectares of moorland – in Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Brandenburg.
Yes, and that’s already a lot, but we still need so much more. This is the only way we can protect endangered plants such as sundew, cranberry and cotton grass or animal species such as moor frogs, adders and grey herons. Additionally, it’s the only way to preserve their habitats – and doing so will also provide extremely effective protection for the climate, of course. Moors only cover three per cent of the earth’s surface, but they store twice as much CO₂ as all forests combined. Incidentally, in Germany, around seven per cent of man-made CO₂ emissions are generated by the use and destruction of moors.
Because they store carbon so incredibly well, moors are real heroes in the fight against the climate crisis. But they’re nowhere near as famous as Superman, are they?
No, unfortunately not. We are trying to change this by doing a lot of public relations work and raising awareness of the moors. We have developed special nature education programmes for school classes that we offer alongside lectures, conferences and campaigns. We also train certified moor and landscape guides who spread the word. And of course, we are also active on social media. To everyone reading this: please follow us on Instagram!
How can the Loki Schmidt Foundation get more followers and more moors? What challenges will you face in the process?
Finding the right land can be time-consuming. Land sales to our foundation are voluntary, after all, so we have to do a lot of persuading in some cases. Sometimes, water law also requires us to acquire permits and commission surveys. The process takes stamina, and you need good negotiation skills. Last but not least, policy frameworks and traditional forms of land use such as agriculture often stand in the way of moorland protection. For example, rewetting isn’t permitted to affect neighbouring agricultural land.
It sounds more complicated than it should be. What needs to change so that you can protect moors more easily?
To stick to the subject of agriculture: alternative sources of income for farmers would help here. In other words, incentives should be provided to make land permanently available for renaturation. Moorland doesn’t really generate much revenue, after all. A new legal framework couldn’t hurt, either. And, of course, it would be great if there were more public awareness and involvement.
We need ‘moor’, so to speak! We’re looking forward to supporting you in your work. We can achieve a lot together – maybe we could even go beyond moors to protect wild forests, as well?
That’s a very good idea!
If you’d like to learn more about moors, we highly recommend the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s Moor Atlas.