Competing peatlands : Negotiations of care in Danish agricultural landscapes
Hegelund, Freja Marie LU
(2026)
Nordic Geographers Meeting
p.1-1
- Abstract
- In light of the current climate- and biodiversity crises, the political interest in peatlands has increased dramatically as these ecosystems hold the potential to address several urgent societal challenges. In Denmark, a political agreement from 2024 aims to restore 140.000 hectares of agricultural peatlands by 2030. The main goal is to reduce GHG emissions from agriculture and decrease nitrogen run-off to aquatic environments along with objectives to restore natural habitats, enhance biodiversity, improve the quality of drinking water, create recreational areas and develop more sustainable ways of farming.
The restoration effort depends on the voluntary participation of landowners who own and cultivate the land. Hence, implementation... (More) - In light of the current climate- and biodiversity crises, the political interest in peatlands has increased dramatically as these ecosystems hold the potential to address several urgent societal challenges. In Denmark, a political agreement from 2024 aims to restore 140.000 hectares of agricultural peatlands by 2030. The main goal is to reduce GHG emissions from agriculture and decrease nitrogen run-off to aquatic environments along with objectives to restore natural habitats, enhance biodiversity, improve the quality of drinking water, create recreational areas and develop more sustainable ways of farming.
The restoration effort depends on the voluntary participation of landowners who own and cultivate the land. Hence, implementation of the effort necessitates local collaboration between policymakers, scientists and farmers challenged by contestations over the purpose and outcome of restoration, what is rendered worthy of protection, what it means to restore nature and what landscapes are wanted in the future.
Based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in 2025, I explore how key stakeholders in Denmark enact peatlands in multiple ways through practices of cultivating, measuring, assessing and valuing peatlands. Through the lens of care, I argue that restoring and improving peatlands in terms of climate, nature, environment and agriculture display multiple ‘good’ peatland(s) that compete in the restoration effort when national policy meets local realities. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/f26d09ba-9744-4ced-9f05-d1b3d3521f16
- author
- Hegelund, Freja Marie
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-06-22
- type
- Contribution to conference
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Peatland, Care, Restoration, Landscape
- pages
- 1 pages
- conference name
- Nordic Geographers Meeting
- conference location
- Reykjavik, Iceland
- conference dates
- 2026-06-22 - 2026-06-25
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- f26d09ba-9744-4ced-9f05-d1b3d3521f16
- alternative location
- https://ngm2026.hi.is/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Abstracts-June-23.pdf
- date added to LUP
- 2026-06-25 12:22:32
- date last changed
- 2026-06-29 09:48:32
@misc{f26d09ba-9744-4ced-9f05-d1b3d3521f16,
abstract = {{In light of the current climate- and biodiversity crises, the political interest in peatlands has increased dramatically as these ecosystems hold the potential to address several urgent societal challenges. In Denmark, a political agreement from 2024 aims to restore 140.000 hectares of agricultural peatlands by 2030. The main goal is to reduce GHG emissions from agriculture and decrease nitrogen run-off to aquatic environments along with objectives to restore natural habitats, enhance biodiversity, improve the quality of drinking water, create recreational areas and develop more sustainable ways of farming.<br/>The restoration effort depends on the voluntary participation of landowners who own and cultivate the land. Hence, implementation of the effort necessitates local collaboration between policymakers, scientists and farmers challenged by contestations over the purpose and outcome of restoration, what is rendered worthy of protection, what it means to restore nature and what landscapes are wanted in the future.<br/>Based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in 2025, I explore how key stakeholders in Denmark enact peatlands in multiple ways through practices of cultivating, measuring, assessing and valuing peatlands. Through the lens of care, I argue that restoring and improving peatlands in terms of climate, nature, environment and agriculture display multiple ‘good’ peatland(s) that compete in the restoration effort when national policy meets local realities.}},
author = {{Hegelund, Freja Marie}},
keywords = {{Peatland; Care; Restoration; Landscape}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{06}},
pages = {{1--1}},
title = {{Competing peatlands : Negotiations of care in Danish agricultural landscapes}},
url = {{https://ngm2026.hi.is/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Abstracts-June-23.pdf}},
year = {{2026}},
}