PEAT-LAND-CORE – Peatland Compilation and Repository for the European Union

The PEAT-LAND-CORE database provides a harmonized spatial dataset of peatlands, peat soils, organic soils, Histosols, and selected related classes to identify and characterize peatlands across the European Union. The database combines available national sources, including peatland and geological maps, soil and organic-soil maps, wetland inventories, and habitat datasets, with the peatland information from the European Wetland Map (EWM; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15302184). We harmonized the source datasets into a common vector format and coordinate reference system (ETRS89-extended / LAEA Europe, EPSG:3035), while retaining information on data provenance and processing steps. The dataset differs significantly from the source materials. In addition to harmonizing the data, we verified the presence of peatlands, corrected their actual extents, added new features based on remote sensing data, and checked the internal topology of feature classes. The PEAT-LAND-CORE database supports European and national-scale screening, comparative analysis, and policy and research applications. Nevertheless, because definitions of peatlands and organic soils, as well as mapping methods, spatial resolution, and data currency, vary across source datasets, users should not interpret the mapped areas as a fully harmonized estimate of the actual biophysical extent of peatlands. Users should refer to the accompanying country-specific information and source metadata when interpreting or comparing the data. This work is part of the Europe-LAND project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe program under Grant Agreement No. 101081307.