Leading expert of the Restoring Peatlands in Russia Project, co-founder of the Greifswald Mire Centre, Prof. Hans Joosten won this year’s German Environmental Award established by the German Federal Foundation for the Environment (DBU). He was awarded for his outstanding contribution to the scientific research on mires and peatlands and the serious consequences of peatland drainage for global warming. “With tireless commitment, he raised awareness in the first place that peatlands are indispensable allies in overcoming the climate crisis,” said the DBU Secretary General Alexander Bonde. “And if we don’t look after the peatlands, if we don’t protect them from drainage, then climate change will cause us even greater problems in the future than we are already feeling.”
Professor Joosten has long been heading the Department of Peatland Studies and Palaeoecology at the Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology under Greifswald University, where many Russian students and postgraduates have undergone training in peatland studies. Since 2000, he has served as Secretary-General of the International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG).
Hans Joosten is a brilliant lecturer, author of more than 600 scientific publications, member of numerous research trips to peatlands around the world, and a longtime friend of Wetlands International Russia. Our cooperation began in 1999, and has only grown stronger over the years.
The DBU’s German Environmental Award 2021 will be presented to two scientists by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on 10 October in Darmstadt. The total monetary value of the award is 500,000 euro.