The 116 km² Losiny Ostrov National Park is the first national park of Russia established in 1983. It is located in Moscow and its outskirts, in the north-eastern edge of the city. Under the Restoring Peatlands in Russia Project, a pilot site for ecological rewetting will be established in this area.

The Mokhovoye-2 peatland is a raised bog located in the Konakovo district of the Tver Province, covering an area of 2318 ha to zero peat depth. Large-scale industrial development of the peatland took place from the mid-1930s to the early 1960s. The rewetting project for the 1500-ha site was developed by the group of experts of the Peat Institute at the Tver State Technical University in 2013. The implementation of the project should promote restoration of the water regime of the peatland and the adjacent waterlogged area covering a total area of 2450 ha.

The Meschera National Park comprises unique peatland massifs covering over 23,000 ha. Some 8,000 ha of these are intact natural peatlands. Large peatland areas were affected by drainage, agriculture, peat extraction, and fires. Commercial peat production in what is now the national park began in early years of the 20th century. By the time the park was established, about 60% of the peatlands (some 15,000 ha) were drained. Currently, 5727 ha of the disturbed peatland complexes have been restored. A 500-ha section of the Orlovskoye-Kurlovskoye peat mining site was chosen for the implementation of a pilot rewetting project.

The Ozeretskoye-Neplyuevskoye peatland is located on the national forest lands in the Konakovo District of the Tver Province. The pilot site covers 900 ha. Rewetting of this site will affect 2,450 ha of adjacent peatland areas providing favourable conditions for the restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem services, such as the regulation of water regime, reduction of GHG emissions and carbon sequestration.

The Orshinsky Mokh peatland is situated in the Kalinin District of the Tver Province. Peat was extracted by means of hydraulic harvesting that gave way to milling in the 1950s and 1960s. The rewetting project was developed in 2014 by experts from the Peat Institute of the Tver State Technical University. In 2016, a rewetting design for the third 1,000 ha site was developed by the Tver project team. The ultimate goal of rewetting is restoration of original peatland ecosystems. A complete restoration may take 5 to 20 years depending on the site's location.

The Lodkinsky Mokh peatland is part of a large peatland system located at the second fluvial terrace above the Volga floodplain. The petland was exploited from 1929 to 2004. The pilot site proposed for rewetting covers 1,000 ha. Rewetting activities are planned to be implemented at the site in 2017

This document contains the main results of the project “Restoring Peatlands in Russia – for fire prevention and climate change mitigation” during 2012-2016

A Draft Strategy for Wetland Conservation in the Russian Federation of was developed jointly by the Federal Committee on Environmental Protection and the Wetlands International-Russia Programme […]

This document was developed by a group of experts with support from the Wetlands International Russia Programme in accordance with a decision taken at the […]

Although most peatlands have remained intact, several million hectares of peatlands have been drained and used for peat extraction, agriculture, and forestry. The peatland area used for peat mining is especially great in the Moscow Province.