Dan Paris (@danparis.bsky.social)

‘It takes 25 years for a footprint to disappear’ – the secret, beguiling magic of Britain’s bogs They are the air-conditioning units of the world – filtering water, preventing flooding, preserving history and providing habitat. Our human ancestors knew the extraordinary power of peatlands, so why are they still being destroyed? I haven’t found an hour when I don’t love a bog. Recently, after a night of counting rare caterpillars in Borth in Mid Wales (they come out only after dark), walking back to the car under the glow of a flower moon, I wondered if 2am was my new favourite. I felt very safe, held by the bog’s softness, and everyone that was out at that hour seemed to have a sense of humour. I met a nightjar hopping around on the ground, pretending, I think, to be a frog. But there is also something about the humidity of a languid afternoon on a bog, when everything slows and fat bumbles hum, that is surprisingly good. I have done freezing horizontal rain and thick, cold-to-your-bones fog and wind so howling that I couldn’t think. All of those were hard, but I did come away feeling truly alive. Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/22/uk-bogs-peatlands-borth-conservation-britain-bogs?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=bluesky&CMP=bsky_gu