LignoInsect

Peatlands cover approximately 4 million km² worldwide and are found in 90% of all countries. In Europe and Southeast Asia, however, they have been severely degraded by drainage for agriculture, peat extraction, and urban development. This reduces biodiversity and releases stored CO₂ and methane—a driver of climate change. As a countermeasure, the rewetting of agriculturally used peatlands is gaining importance. However, this process generates large quantities of highly woody, lignocellulose-rich biomass. This biomass must be removed or utilized to reduce nutrient loading; due to its complex structure, it is hardly suitable as feed in traditional livestock farming. The project is therefore developing methods to process lignocellulose from paludiculture into insect feed by combining modern processing techniques with byproducts from the food and feed industries. The goal is to produce high-quality insect proteins and fats for pets and humans. At the same time, this approach creates regional economic value, strengthens the circular economy, and has the potential to reduce imports of soy and fish meal.