aeco – Peatland restoration

Our Approach
Alignment of Stakeholder interests

Combining diverse backgrounds in peatland restoration, agriculture, tech and finance, we have created a platform that provides balanced incentives for all stakeholders.

We manage the development, implementation and monitoring of water level and restoration measures in peatlands to generate and market CO₂- and other ecosystem service certificates.

Land Stewards

Receive long-term additional annual payment from climate protection measures - at no cost and with the option of continued cultivation.

Corporates

Access to transparent, local, premium grade certificates for unavoidable emissions with quantified and meaningful projects.

Investors

Generate sustainable returns in a truly green asset class. Get access to third party verified impact data.

Restoration & Conservation Groups

Increase the impact of climate and nature restoration projects through cooperation in development, scalable private sector funding and monitoring.

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Collaboration with pan-european institutions and local partners to identify relevant projects. Assessment of feasibility through digital models and on-site visits.

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Modeling of required construction measures, costs, risks and resulting CO2 avoidance and other ecosystem services potentials.

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Developing the business model for each specific project in coordination with the land stewards, farmers and local implementation partners. Coverage of all development costs by Aeco.

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Marketing of the generated CO2 certificates and co-benefits to industry partners - both directly and via partners.

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Continuous digital monitoring of restoration projects. Optimization together with nature conservation organizations. Third-party validated.

Step 1
Sourcing

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Step 2
Development

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Step 3
Financing

Step 4
Sales

Step 5
Monitoring

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Frequently Asked Questions

We have collected our answers to the most frequently asked questions here. In case your questions are not yet fully addressed feel free to reach out to us by Email and we will do our best to get back to you shortly!

General peatland restoration FAQs

Why have peatlands been drained, and what is the resulting effect on the environment?

Peatlands are and have mainly been drained for agriculture and forestry. This releases significant carbon dioxide emissions, contributing to the climate crisis, and harms the water cycle as well as biodiversity adapted to wetland habitats.

What is the benefit of restoring drained peatlands?

Restoring drained peatlands by rising the water level as much as possible is crucial for mitigating and adapting to climate change. The release of stored carbon dioxide will be reduced and ideally stopped as well as biodiversity enhanced by recreating suitable habitats. Additionally, revitalized peatlands offer ecosystem services like flood control and water purification and enable a long lasting eco-friendly agricultural land use, fostering environmental sustainability and supporting local economies.

Why are the voluntary carbon market and carbon certificates crucial for peatland restoration?

The voluntary carbon market and carbon certificates provide financial incentives for peatland restoration. Businesses and individuals buy carbon credits to contribute to projects that restore drained peatlands. The revenue generated supports restoration efforts, ongoing land management and monitoring of the project, making it a key enabler by aligning environmental conservation with economic incentives. Currently the carbon market provides the only mature enough market to finance these efforts, however in the future also other markets for other ecosystem services will be developed.

What is AECO's approach to peatland restoration?

Aeco employs a unique approach to peatland restoration that involves creating incentives for all stakeholders, fostering a participatory model for land stewards, restoration and conservation NGOs, corporates and investors. This approach aims to lead to peatland restoration at scale by combining technological advancements, stakeholder incentives, and standardized digitized practices.

Carbon and other ecosystem services specific FAQs

How are carbon credits generated in peatland restoration projects?

Carbon credits are generated through the avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from increasing the water level in degraded peatlands. The restored peatland largely reduces carbon emissions and over time, in some cases, they can be converted again into a sink that sequesters carbon. Carbon credits are registered under a recognized carbon standard and issued based on quantified and third party verified emissions reductions.

Are carbon credits from peatland restoration projects “removal” or “avoidance” credits?

They can yield both removal and avoidance credits from the same project, just over different time horizons. In the short term, projects yield carbon credits through the avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from increasing the water level in degraded peatlands. Over the long term, however, the restoration efforts can in some cases lead to peatlands returning to their natural carbon sink functions, yielding removal credits.

How do we ensure the credibility and effectiveness of peatland restoration projects in the voluntary carbon market?

Science based robust monitoring, reporting, and verification mechanisms are the basis for transparency of results based issuance. All of our projects are third party verified and adhere to recognized carbon standards and methodologies like the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) of Verra or other national standards such as the UK Peatland Code in the UK or MoorFutures in Germany to ensure credibility.

What is the timeframe for peatland restoration projects, and when can the carbon credits be considered permanent?

The timeframe in our projects vary, but projects typically span decades. As long as degraded peat is in contact with oxygen, mineralization occurs and greenhouse gas emissions are released. Immediately after increasing the water level, this effect reduced or even stopped and emissions are avoided. If the peat layer is protected from mineralization by water, these emission reductions are permanent.
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The project duration for emission avoidance projects depends on the climate neutrality goal of the respective region/state/nation. We assume that once this goal has been achieved, CO2 avoidance certificates can no longer be traded. However, this is unlikely to apply to CO2 removal and other co-benefits, which will most likely continue to be traded in the future according to the IPCC. Example: A project focusing on avoided emissions in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Germany starting in 2024 - would thus have an initial time frame of 16 years, as the federal state has committed to being climate neutral by 2040.
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After the project period has ended, it is extremely unlikely that the rewetting caused by humans will be reversed and the peatland areas will be drained again due to the associated high investment costs and likely applicable future policies or bans in this regard. If policy action has unfortunately not progressed as necessary, even pure avoidance projects might be eligible for a prolongation.

Are there co-benefits associated with peatland restoration projects?

Yes, co-benefits include enhanced peat-specific biodiversity, improved water quality, flood prevention, cooling of local climate and the creation of sustainable livelihoods for local communities.

What are the costs for restoring a degraded and drained peatland area?

Every peatland area is unique and the corresponding restoration measures depend on a variety of factors. The hydrological catchment area of a peatland does not end with the property boundary, so several owners and managers usually have to be involved over larger areas. Project planning and implementation measures as well as the associated costs therefore vary greatly, so that a corresponding assessment can only be made based on the specific area and project.

The following costs must be taken into account as a one-off investment for rewetting: project planning, water and nature conservation permits and planning of approval procedures, structural implementation steps for rewetting (usually blocking the drainage canals and dismantling or repairing the pumping stations and locks), set-up of a robust monitoring and reporting system, certification of the project according to a CO2 standard.

The following costs must be taken into account annually: Annual payments as possible compensation for the land steward, scientific monitoring and reporting of the climate impact after the rewetting of the peatland has been implemented, verification by third parties at least every 5 years.

What type of ecosystem services certificates does aeco sell?

We operate in the voluntary carbon market. Therefore our current focus is on the well known carbon credits or otherwise knows as CO2 certificates. Depending on the project and its maturity we sell carbon avoidance credits or, where possible, also removal credits.

Over time, we intend to also quantify other ecosystem services over time such as water benefits (eg. flood control and water purification), biodiversity benefits and condensation cooling. We are currently piloting the quantification and monitoring of other ecosystem services next to carbon in some of our projects, however we do not trade these types of certificates, whose standards and markets are still under development. Feel free to contact us if you are interested in collaborating on the quantification and monitoring of other ecosystem services.

Stakeholder specific FAQs

How can companies participate in our peatland restoration projects?

Companies can participate by supporting or investing in peatland restoration projects. For example by entering project pre-finance agreements and thereby securing long-term access to credits at a discounted price, purchasing future rights to certificates, buying a set amount of verified certificates one off or collaborating with us in other ways.
However we only work with companies with a credible emission reduction and avoidance strategy that are in line with, for example, SBTi guidelines (Science-Based Targets Initiative). Both the reduction path and target for your own field of activity and its supply chain must be defined and clearly quantified. If this is the case, additional carbon credits can be purchased through our projects, which contribute to climate financing according to the contribution claim approach.

How can stakeholders track the progress and impact of a peatland restoration project?

Next to regular project updates, transparent reporting, and third-party verification reports we will provide stakeholders with an impact dashboard and project specific emission data to provide insights into the progress and impact of our peatland restoration projects.

What is the role of local communities in peatland restoration projects, and how are they engaged?

Land owners, farmers as well as local communities play a crucial role in project success. Engaging them in decision-making and ensuring equitable benefits help build support and enhance the project's long-term success and sustainability.

How do I as a nature restoration and conservation organization benefit?

These organizations are typically strongly interested in increasing their impact and accelerating restoration activities. However, they struggle with a difficult and complex public or philanthropic funding environment that often also does not allow them to continuously build up and maintain effective capabilities. We support local nature restoration and conservation organizations financially and with capacity building in order for them to assist us in the sourcing, screening, feasibility, planning, implementation and long-term monitoring of peatland restoration projects. In return we offer them a number of different incentive models, next to the opportunity to scale up peatland restoration within their region.

How do I as a land steward / landowner benefit?

We as aeco cover all costs arising from the peatland restoration project. Depending on the resulting avoided emissions we pay out a variable fee per hectare and year to the land steward. Please fill in the questionnaire on our website if you have a potential project site you would like to discuss with us.

Why is peatland restoration also attractive to investors?

Revenue streams generated from selling carbon credits resulting from avoided emissions in the peatland restoration projects can provide an attractive long-term investment opportunity into a green asset class. On the one side the projects result in quantified positive impact on climate, biodiversity and water on the other side they yield an attractive return on investment.

Restoring peatlands by unlocking their value - for landowners, corporations, investors and the planet.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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