Tero Mustonen

Since April 2018, Tero Mustonen led the restoration of 62 severely degraded former industrial peat mining and forestry sites throughout Finland—totaling 86,000 acres—and transformed them into productive, biodiverse wetlands and habitats. Rich in organic matter, peatlands are highly effective carbon sinks; according to the IUCN, peatlands are the largest natural carbon stores on Earth. Roughly one-third of Finland’s surface area is made up of peatlands.

A Bounty of Peat

After World War II, Finland was forced to pay substantial reparations to Russia. To fund the payments, Finland drained over half of its marshlands for timber, agriculture, and peat mining. The Finnish word for Finland is “Suomi”—“suo” means “mire” or “swamp.”

Roughly 30% of country’s total surface area is made up of peatland, a surface layer of soft soils comprised of decomposed mosses, herbs, shrubs, and small trees submerged in waterlogged areas. Due to a lack of oxygen, vegetation doesn’t fully decompose but compresses over time; acting as a sponge, it traps water as well as CO2 from the atmosphere. Peatlands then store large amounts of carbon from decaying plant life. Peatlands grow very slowly—at a rate of roughly three feet every 1,000 years.

When dug up or burnt, peat (sometimes called “brown gold”) releases centuries’ worth of stored carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It contributes to water pollution by discharging organic materials and acidity into rivers, releasing nitrogen and phosphorous into nearby watersheds, lakes, and rivers, resulting in eutrophication, algal blooms, and browning of clear waters that can harm salmon populations and drive biodiversity loss.

Finland is the EU’s largest peat burner. While peat burning constitutes less than 5% of Finland’s domestic energy, it is responsible for 14% of its annual greenhouse gas emissions. The country’s peat burning generates 23.8 million tons of carbon dioxide annually—more than twice the annual emissions from Finnish road, rail, boat, and air traffic combined. Finland has pledged to be carbon-neutral by 2035 but only plans to halve peat use by that time. The state-owned energy company NEOVA (formerly VAPO) is the largest peat producer in the country.

A Scholar, Fisherman, and Leader

Tero Mustonen, 46, is the Finnish president and founder of the Snowchange Cooperative, a pan-Arctic and boreal forest network of community associations fighting climate change and biodiversity loss. He founded the organization in 2000 and also holds a position as an adjunct professor of geography at the University of Eastern Finland.

As a Finnish scholar, fisherman, and leader, Tero is deeply connected to nature and rooted in traditional Finnish culture. He grew up amidst Finland’s lakes and peatlands and has dedicated his life to bringing together Western scientists, village elders, and Sámi Indigenous knowledge holders in the region to preserve traditional culture and environments in the face of human exploitation and climate change.

One Peatland at a Time

After observing firsthand the perils of state-sponsored industrial extraction on Finnish peatlands, in particular the mass deaths of fish in his region, in 2018 Tero launched a rewilding program to restore the degraded wetland ecosystems. Snowchange acquired former industrial forestry and peatland sites on the open market in order to restore them—the sites were then mostly biologically degraded zones, sometimes resembling moonscapes.

By interviewing locals, researching the history of the peatland sites, and studying soil and biodiversity trends—including community efforts to conduct species inventories and measure pH and groundwater levels—Tero and his team developed a peat rehabilitation program combining traditional knowledge with modern scientific data.

Natural water levels on peatlands were restored using bulldozers, diggers, and small earthen dams; Snowchange staff often followed on foot with spades to redirect water flow. Once complete, they stepped away and allowed nature to gradually restore the rest.

Snowchange now has six major catchment areas in the program. The restored sites are chosen based both on the local community’s priorities and on ecological needs. Using trace gas analyzers, Tero and his team monitor CO2 emissions at the sites. One site, the Onkineva peatland, draws an estimated 500 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere each year, and is expected to capture some 50,000 tons over the next century.

Restoring wetlands brings back habitat for migratory birds flying north in the spring and returning to southern climates in the fall. Birds, including rare ducks and waders, butterflies and other insects, plants, and mosses recover shortly after the water table is restored; one site was visited by over 185 different birds, including rare species such as the greater spotted eagle, Terek sandpiper, and tawny pipit.

A Priceless Legacy

When the restoration program began in 2018, it had eight sites and a total of 988 acres. Through Tero’s collaboration with local Sámi Indigenous and Finnish rural communities, by 2020, nearly 25,000 acres had been under restoration and, by April 2022, there were 62 rehabilitated sites across Finland, totaling more than 86,000 acres. His leadership is revitalizing one of the largest and most important carbon sinks on the planet—discarded after decades of industrial use—and converting biologically degraded zones into crucial areas of biodiversity.

As a scientist and fisherman working with Indigenous and local communities, Tero has developed a truly cross-cultural model of climate change mitigation and adaptation near the Arctic Circle. What began with a small amount of public support is now overwhelmingly embraced by Finnish citizens. By reinventing Finland’s historic approach to former industrial sites, he is fighting climate change at the ground level and creating a model for rewilding that can be applied the world over. This is the first Prize for Finland.