%0 Research articles
%T Multi-criteria planning of peat production area after-use
%A Räsänen, Aleksi
%A Mustajoki, Jyri
%A Aro, Lasse
%A Ulvi, Teemu
%A Annala, Mari
%A Marttunen, Mika
%D 2023
%J Suo - Mires and peat
%V 74
%N 1-2
%U http://suo.fi/article/10824
%X <p>Currently, in Finland, thousands of hectares of peat production areas are being transformed to the after-use phase for which there are multiple options, such as restoration, afforestation, cultivation, and production of solar and wind power. In Finland, the landowner decides what after-use option is implemented. When the after-use of the peat production areas is planned, multiple factors need to be accounted for, including environmental site characteristics, and landowner and stakeholder preferences. Therefore, there is a need for tools that help to choose the new land-uses for the areas. We have developed a multi-criteria assessment approach that is based on stakeholder workshops and includes eight steps: identification of stakeholders, definition of objectives for the after-use, examination of site characteristics, identification of after-use options, after-use impact assessment, weighting of objectives, synthesizing the results, and communicating the plan. We pilot the approach through three workshops in the Turvesuo-Miehonsuo peat production area in Oulu, northern Finland. The following three main after-use options have been identified: rewetting (including shallow water bodies, and active and passive restoration), spontaneous revegetation, and afforestation. It has been assessed which after-use option is suitable for which sub-area of the former peat production site and what kind of environmental impacts the after-uses have. The developed approach is suitable particularly to precede the detailed after-use planning when the different after-use options are scoped. Furthermore, the approach and the discussions in the workshops enable systematic evaluation of the after-use planning and social learning.</p>