PRINCESS will investigate the potential of alternative land uses on
rewetted peatlands to tackle the major environmental challenges of
Europe: greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen pollution and
biodiversity loss. Synergies and trade-offs both within (e.g. between
carbon dioxide and methane emissions) and between the policy
objectives (e.g. between emissions, biodiversity and economic
returns) are studied to optimize between alternative land use options for rewetted
peatlands, i.e. high-intensity paludiculture, low-intensity paludiculture,
and wilderness. PRINCESS analyses crucial processes under highly controlled
conditions in the laboratory and in mesocosms, tests them under more
realistic conditions in the field, and models and upscales them to
catchment and EU scale.