Crowdfunding solutions to ensure peatland preservation

Key Learnings

About the Region

Climate Threats

The preservation and restoration of peatlands in Hochmoor Schrems Nature Park is crucial and is integrated into a comprehensive park concept. Over millennia, peat layers formed by plant remains, act as carbon sinks, capturing and storing CO₂. However, drained peats release methane and CO₂, significantly contributing to climate change, and surpassing the emissions of international air traffic. Intact peatlands mitigate global warming by absorbing CO₂, but rapid global warming threatens their stability. Despite their importance as water reservoirs and for microclimatic regulation, disturbed peatlands lose their carbon storage capacity. Hence, preserving peatlands such as Hochmoor Schrems is vital for climate regulation and biodiversity conservation, emphasising the urgent need for their protection and restoration.

Crowdfunding in Hochmoor Schrems

Launch and achievements

"Förderkreis Hochmoor Schrems" is a participation project launched by COMÚN together with the city of Schrems and the nature park to persuade private individuals and companies to make a concrete financial contribution. Initially set at 95,000 euros, the budget for the Hochmoor Nature Park in Schrems faced some challenges due to inflation. However, as reported by the non-profit foundation COMÚN, the shortfall was reduced by donations exceeding 10,000 euros. As announced at the time, the municipality of Schrems intends to double the donation amount, providing an additional 20,000 euros for the nature park's ongoing operations.

Crucial to this success were the collaborative efforts of various partners.

• The City of Schrems not only provided essential budgetary support for the nature park's establishment and ongoing operations but also demonstrated a strong commitment to its preservation.
• The nature park itself played a vital role in sharing valuable expertise and knowledge, particularly in developing effective promotion campaigns to engage the community.
• COMÚN played a significant role in facilitating the crowdfunding efforts by actively supporting the development and implementation of the crowdfunding strategy.

Beyond the fundraising efforts, raising awareness about the environmental challenges peatlands are facing, played a crucial role. Thanks to a strong collaboration with the media, the project carried out effective advocacy and awareness raising, which underlined the importance of protecting these vital ecosystems and fostered a collective sense of responsibility among the public.

The funds will be allocated towards expanding educational programs and maintaining the area of the nature reserve amounting to around 1,190,000 m². For the Mayor of Schrems, Peter Müller, the campaign is not only of financial importance:

This cooperation increases the identification of the population and companies with our homeland and its existing treasures, which must be preserved.

Peter Müller, Mayor of Schrems

Preserving peatlands through crowdfunding

The campaign effectively highlighted the numerous benefits of protecting peatlands, particularly in combating climate change and safeguarding biodiversity. Many people were previously unaware of the importance of peatlands. This is why the campaign succeeded in raising societal awareness on this issue.

After the campaign, many people throughout Austria understood the responsibility each person has in preserving the environment in a changing climate and in adapting to the new circumstances posed by it. In this specific case, people understood the importance of the preservation of peatlands and the role they play in adapting to climate change. Additionally, they have realised that the peatlands in Hochmoor Schrems play a fundamental role in the surrounding area and the country as a whole. This is why numerous people from all over the country started contributing to this crowdfunding programme.

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