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We have closed our online shop and all business at Holvi today as they do not allow non-ETA members on the board of associations and companies, even though IPS is registered in Finland, has a special permission for foreigners, and normal bank accounts at other institutes. This is outraging, especially as they did not even reply to our letter to the CEO. Five days left to their deadline, with midsummer coming, so of course we had to react first. We will inform you once our new shop is up and...

Dear IPS members and partners, With the current funding model, the IPS is able to finance its current activities until 2026 only. We therefore ask you to participate in a survey to possibly change the funding model of the society. Please answer by 19 May at the latest so that we can analyse the results at the next Board meeting. In case you have answered already, just ignore this email. If you leave your mobile number you can win a copy of the brand new 414-page Peatlands and Climate Change...

The IPS will move to a new location as our current office building is being changed to a supermarket. Our new address as of 2 April is thus: Susann Warnecke International Peatland Society (or Kansainvälinen Suoyhdistys ry) Suuruspääntie 11 C 9 40520 Jyväskylä Finland All other contact information stay the same. Please update your records. I will be busy packing and moving during the next 3-4 weeks, including our archives, so there might be some delays in replying. We kindly ask for your understanding. Susann Warnecke IPS Secretary General

Statement of the IPS to the Declaration of the “Power to the Peatlands” conference 19th to 21st September 2023, Antwerp, Belgium The Power to the Peatlands conference took place in Antwerp on September 19-21, 2023. It had 547 attendants on site, and around 140 online. Participants joined from 29 European countries, and additionally 17 from countries outside of Europe. At the end of this conference, a declaration to Empower nature, climate and future now! was agreed by 80 of the participants calling for joint urgent action to safeguard peatlands in...

Updated 19 April 2024 STATUS President: Hannu Salo (for two years) nominated by Finland 1st Vice President (legally important, deputy to above): Ilze Ozola nominated by Latvia 2nd Vice President (responsible for Scientific Advisory Board): Anna-Helena Purre nominated by Estonia Ordinary members (4-5 seats) in alphabetical order Asha Hingorani nominated by Canada Lulie Melling nominated by Malaysia Ilze Ozola nominated by Latvia Päivi Peronius nominated by Finland Paddy Rowland nominated by Ireland Guus van Berckel nominated by the Netherlands If Dr Ozola is elected 1st Vice President, her nomination for...

PRESS RELEASE On the occasion of World Wetlands Day 2023 Örjan Berglund First Scientific Officer for the International Peatland Society Dr Örjan Berglund from Sweden has been appointed as first Scientific Officer (SO) of the International Peatland Society (IPS). He will support the Scientific Advisory Board, Executive Board and Secretariat by gathering and communicating data and knowledge on peatlands and peat from the global and regional perspectives. Dr Berglund will start on 1 March 2023, based in Uppsala, Sweden, where he will continue to work also for the Swedish University...

The Executive Board of the International Peatland Society (IPS) has appointed Ms Susann Warnecke as new IPS Secretary General as of 10 October 2022. The position is permanent and is best described as the "smooth running of the society", including administration, finances and communications as well as strategic development and member management. [caption id="attachment_7980" align="alignleft" width="400"] Photo by Henriikka Koskinen, Foto-Antti Vaajakoski[/caption] Ms Warnecke was born in 1975 and grew up in Germany until she moved to Finland as an exchange student to study Global Business Management in 1999, and...

PRESS RELEASE Almost 300 interested guests from 17 countries, representing different stakeholders in the peat sector, met in Riga, Latvia for the 20th Baltic Peat Producers’ Forum (BPPF) this week, 14 - 15 September 2022. Background The peat sector is under pressure from climate policy measures, even though it accounts for a relatively small proportion of peat-related emissions. Despite the increasing global demand for peat products, peat extraction is concentrated in just a few countries, among which the Baltic countries have long-standing traditions and are remarkable exporters today. Peatlands play...

The IPS has elected a new Executive Board at its Annual Assembly. Members are: 2022-2024 Marko Pomerants, President Guus van Berckel, the Netherlands, 1st VP Jack Rieley, UK, 2nd VP Donal Clarke, Ireland Asha Hingorani, Canada Giedrius Kavaliauskas, Lithuania Tuija Vähäkuopus, Finland 2022-2026 Bernd Hofer, Germany Sabine Jordan, Sweden Anna-Helena Purre, Estonia Meng Wang, China Congratulations! At the same meeting, the Assembly approved budget and membership fees 2022-2023, including the funding and implementation of the Position Paper "Embracing Change".

Statement by the Executive Board To download the statement as PDF file: https://peatlands.org/document/eb-statement-ukraine The International Peatland Society is deeply concerned about the ongoing military and political Russian aggression against the sovereign and independent state of Ukraine, supported by Belarus. All three countries have or have had members in the IPS, and cooperation has been fruitful over more than fifty decades, on professional as well as personal level. We have often stated that the IPS provided a bridge between countries even during the Cold War and that is has been excellent...