Background Some 25-30% of carbon stored in ecosystems is found in peatlands, twice as much carbon as is stored in forests. Peatland degradation, however, leads to the decomposition and mineralisation of peat and consequently to the release of the stored carbon in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2). According to Wetlands International, there are at least 500 000 km2 of degraded peatlands worldwide, releasing some 2 billion tonnes/yr of CO2 worldwide, a figure that is estimated to be increasing by 2% per year. Degraded peatlands are estimated to account for some 5-6% of all CO2 emissions from anthropogenic activities and around 30% of CO2 emissions caused by land use and its transformation. The post-2020 international climate agreement of 2013 obliges signatories to report emissions and removals from peatland drainage and rewetting and to create national greenhouse gas inventories. This is an important step, but there is still a need for a comprehensive and unified strategy for restoring degraded peatlands that would form part of an EU-wide climate policy. Objectives The overall objective of the LIFE Peat Restore project is to reduce CO2 emissions by restoring degraded peatlands and providing guidelines for decision-makers and conservationists. The project aims to: Restore degraded peatland sites; Measure the change in greenhouse gas emissions from peatlands before and after restoration and model fluxes using the Greenhouse Gas Emission Site Types (GEST) approach; Produce a handbook on how to carry out restoration and best manage the restored peatlands; and Create guidelines with best practice scenarios for peatland use in relation to the EU climate policy and legislation. The restoration of degraded peat deposits will be carried out in five countries in the North European Lowland on the Baltic coast – Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The handbook and guidelines will aim to inform the decision-making process of politicians, authorities and conservation managers responsible for the use of peatlands. The project will contribute to climate change mitigation in the project countries as well as to EU climate policy and mitigation-related goals in the area of land use (LULUCF) by providing robust carbon data from peatlands. Finally, the project aims to transfer the experiences gained to other European and non-European countries with similar peatland formations and climate conditions. Expected results: The project expects to achieve the following results: Restoration of a total of 5 272.5 ha of degraded peatlands in five EU countries; Restart or increase of the natural processes of peat accumulation in the degraded sites; Demonstration of new approaches and methods for re-vegetation of open water bodies and bare peat in abandoned peat mining areas; Establishment of vital peat-forming vegetation in flooded post-mining peat deposits and bare peat areas in Poland and Lithuania; Monitoring of the success of measures in all types of peatland at project sites by applying GEST as a common methodology for modelling CO2 emissions; Raised awareness of authorities, decision-makers, local people, experts and other relevant stakeholders of the impact on climate through peatland use and degradation; Internationally-applicable guidelines with recommendations and best practise scenarios for inclusion of carbon flux from restored peatlands of the temperate continental climate zone into national climate balances; Improved knowledge of the best practices for restoration via rewetting of different types of peatlands; and An internationally-applicable handbook on the restoration of degraded different mire habitats forming peat and storing carbon within the temperate Continental climate zone.