Bogs are good for you

[AndrewLuton]

Not sure how many members may have noticed this in todays times. Thought it was very interesting and goes to prove what a great hobby we have........

BRITAIN’S attempts to cut greenhouse gas pollution could be assisted by a neglected natural resource — boglands.

From Dartmoor to the Outer Hebrides, Britain is blessed with some of the world’s finest bogs. These emerge when poorly drained land fills with stagnant waters, which in turn encourage certain plants to grow, especially sphagnum moss. The plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and when they die are preserved in the acid waters as peat, so locking away the carbon. Over thousands of years that peat builds into thick bogland — and a vast reservoir of carbon.

Planting trees is a popular way to store carbon and help to reduce global warming. Schemes are being backed by businesses such as BP and Sainsbury’s and such celebrities as Kylie Minogue and the Rolling Stones.

Bogs are not as glamorous as woods but they are cheaper and more efficient, absor- bing four times as much CO2 as forests. The Environment Agency has just announced a £380,000 project to encourage boglands in northeast England, by filling in the ditches which would otherwise drain them.

Boglands have another enormous benefit — the moss and peat soak up heavy rain like a huge sponge, and help to prevent the run-off from storms swamping rivers and streams.