Foto showing the Gross Moss habitat at 1250m altitude. One of the former drainage trenches runs through the picture. Draining the water from the moor by this and other trenches has been blocked through numerous man-made dams perpendicular to the canal (visible in the foto). The resulting water filled basins will “spawn” regrowth of moss plants and, overall, the slow restoration of the moor.
A group of Friends in Zurich, Switzerland have recently become involved in sponsoring a local renaturation project. The group is currently making regular small contributions to the Swiss NGO Myclimate, which is working to restore highland moors in the east of Switzerland. These big marshlands have a major carbon storage potential, which goes untapped unless the moor is “rewetted” following peat extraction or agricultural usage. Myclimate and other NGOs have been gathering financial backing so that this restoration project can take place.
A member of the group, Thomas Gorr, is also involved in his capacity as a biologist, mapping the progress of renaturation through regular visits of the area and by protocoling the ensuing changes in the plant cover and the inhabiting pool of animal species. Thomas writes that by “renaturing (rewetting) moors both a highly effective carbon fixation is fostered and the biodiversity of very rare specialist species (plants and animals alike) will also benefit. In contrast, dried moors (the state moors are usually in across countries of central Europe), act more as a carbon source than as carbon sequestration habitat.”
QUAKERS & CLIMATE CHANGE WORLDWIDE 