Rescuing bogs ticks all boxes for nature and climate change

Apart from the natural beauty of bogs and their importance for nature, there’s also the bigger picture of tackling climate change, writes Donal Hickey

IN school, long ago, we would stand before a map of Ireland hanging on the wall, pointing with a stick to places all around the country. And the great Bog of Allen appeared to take over the Midlands. Now, due to large-scale commercial peat harvesting — some called turf ‘brown gold’ — that bog has almost disappeared.

In recent years, campaigns have begun to save what’s left of the bogs and the Irish Peatland Conservation Council (IPCC) aims to reverse the fortunes of some of our main peatlands — raised bogs.