Draining of peatlands requires careful planning because of its costs. Only peatlands that have sufficient growth capacity in future should be drained. The future growth capacity can be estimated based on peatland type, the botanical composition of the peat layers and the quality of the surface peat layer of the swamp.
Also the draining methods should be cost effective. To keep the amount of drains low, the drain network and drain lines should be planned so that each drain has high drain effectivity. Most of the peatlands drained in Finland have been forested. Especially the young trees regain soon their growth when the peat begins to dry. It is recommended to leave the young trees, but most profitable to harvest the older forests in the drained area. Practical experiences have shown that even drained open peatlands can be naturally regenerated. Natural regeneration is almost guaranteed to succeed on peatlands, which have seed trees.
A summary in Finnish is included in the PDF.