Theikenmeer

General Description

Theikenmeer is a small peatland site at the heart of an agricultural system, which was restored from farmland to an active raised bog by digging peat pools and using the extracted peat to build dikes around its perimeter. The core area of the nature reserve was protected by law in 1936. Furthermore areas were integrated in 1983 and 1993. In total 290 ha are under protection today. The pond area measures 26 ha. 40 ha are peatland meadows.

Heavy rain fall during the visit ot Theikenmeer

(Photo: Ralf Schulte/NABU)

The NABU has been involved with the Theikenmeer nature reserve since 1977. In 2009, widespread rewetting measures for the reduction of greenhouse emissions were implemented together with VW Leasing. This collaboration is setting new standards in Germany for the financing of conservation projects.

The peat volume of the Theikenmeer is around 2.75 million m3. In total, there are around 121 000 tons of carbon tied to this nature reserve, i.e. 435.600 tons of CO2. At present, the gas exchange can be calculated at the equivalent of around 625 tons of carbon per year – that means emissions of 2 250 tons CO2.

The project was funded from a Leonardo da Vinci grant.
The project started in 2010 and was finished in 2012.