German farmers' preferences for peatland rewetting schemes: Autonomy, flexibility and institutional trust

Voluntary peatland rewetting can contribute to climate change mitigation, but farmer participation remains limited. Drawing on a purposively recruited sample of 141 German farmers surveyed in 2025 (90 managing peatland), this study examines preferences for a compensation scheme and factors associated with outright rejection of participation. Farmers clearly prefer to have authority over the amount of rewetting. In paired comparisons of a scheme's components, analyzed with Bradley–Terry models, respondents placed the greatest relative weight on autonomy over the degree of rewetting. This was followed by future land-use options and then compensation for land value losses. A speed bonus for early application received the lowest relative priority in the paired comparisons. Respondents with and without peatland showed the same estimated ranking of scheme components, with no statistically significant differences in preference strengths, while the two groups differ markedly in farm structure, soil quality, and altruistic orientation, suggesting that scheme architecture may be broadly transferable while targeting and outreach require tailoring. Among peatland farmers, 42% showed some interest or engagement while 24% reported outright rejection. Such rejection is associated with lower altruism and weaker climate-change attitudes according to bias-reduced Firth logistic regression. Among peatland respondents considering rewetting but not yet implementing it (Rogers stages 2–4; n = 29), descriptive COM-B results indicated stronger reported needs related to capability and opportunity than to motivation. Specifically, the capability needs analysis points to a lack of resources such as credible information on the economic viability of rewetted land and the opportunity needs analysis points to a lack of services such as advisory support and peer exchange. Reported barriers centered on long-term economic uncertainty and limited trust in funding schemes. Overall, these exploratory findings suggest that respondents prioritize autonomy, future flexibility, and long-term institutional credibility over short-term financial incentives alone. The results provide exploratory, policy-relevant insights for peatland rewetting program design in Germany and, potentially, in comparable contexts.