Seminar “The Role of Peatlands in Climate Change Mitigation and Protection”

At the beginning of July, scientists, military experts, policymakers and nature conservation specialists will gather in Riga to discuss the role of peatland ecosystems in climate change mitigation and in the context of national security, which is one of the priorities of the “LIFE PeatCarbon” project implemented by the University of Latvia.

The expert seminar, which will take place on 7 and 8 July, is organised by the University of Latvia’s “LIFE PeatCarbon” project in cooperation with the Ministry of Defence, the National Armed Forces and the NATO Climate Change and Security Centre of Excellence (CCASCOE).

The first day of the seminar “The Role of Peatlands in Climate Change Mitigation and Defence” will take place at the University of Latvia House of Science (3 Jelgavas Street, Riga) and will include four thematic sessions. The opening session will examine peatland policy and planning at the national and European Union levels, including peatland hydrological restoration projects in Latvia. The second session will focus on peatland hydrological restoration as a climate change mitigation tool, drawing on experience from Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands. Māra Pakalne, Head of the “LIFE PeatCarbon” project, will participate in the session and present the project’s results and the experience gained so far.

The afternoon sessions will examine the role of peatlands in security and defence, with historical and contemporary examples from Latvia and Lithuania, as well as the impact of hydrological modifications on human security, with speakers from the United States, France, Germany and Latvia. The first day will conclude with an informal gathering at the University of Latvia Botanical Garden.

The second day will be devoted to visits to peatlands. Seminar participants will visit two of Latvia’s most significant peatland landscapes: Cena Mire, a raised bog where active restoration of the hydrological regime has been under way since 2006, led by Māra Pakalne, and Tīreļi Mire, led by Kārlis Dambītis, a historian at the National Defence Academy of Latvia. Both sites clearly demonstrate the dual importance of peatland ecosystems: as carbon stores that are essential for climate change mitigation, and as terrain of direct relevance to defence planning.

The conference will be held in English.

Registration for the seminar – by completing the application form.

For additional information, please contact Jānis Liniņš, Senior Expert at the Defence Planning Support Strategy Section of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia, by email at janis.linins@mod.gov.lv.

The seminar is organised within the framework of the European Commission LIFE Programme climate change mitigation project “LIFE PeatCarbon”.