UNDER THE BOARDWALK

 Owendu Bog, Ballycroy

PEATLANDS HOLD ENORMOUS PROMISE FOR ADDRESSING IRELAND’S CLIMATE AND BIODIVERSITY EMERGENCY. BY CLIFTON BAIN

Wooden trackways have been a key feature of peatbogs and fens for thousands of years. Providing access across wetland habitats which have proportionately less solid than milk, boardwalks are a vital part of the peatland visiting experience. Our distant ancestors utilised boardwalks not only to traverse the bog but also to enter the saturated ground for ceremonial rituals, in which valuable objects were deposited in the peat as well as human sacri ces. Today, thanks to ambitious projects to restore and conserve Ireland’s peatlands as part of a global peatland e ort, many wonderful and exciting ‘bog days out’ can be enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities. ere is a wonderful array of wildlife associated with Ireland’s peatlands. In bogs, Sphagnum mosses are the great natural building blocks whose dead remains are preserved in the acidic waterlogged conditions to form peat. Like miniature rainforests there are several di erent species of Sphagnum , each occupying a slightly di erent zone within the water table. Some form large hummocks up to a half metre tall and others prefer to be submerged in wet pools. ey also display an amazing array of colours from reds, golds, browns

and greens. Within the carpet of mosses insectivorous sundew plants form bright red drifts, shimmering with the sticky, dewdrop tipped leaves, used to attract insect prey. The living plant layer across a bog is extremely vulnerable to the damaging effects of trampling by human footfall, livestock, and vehicles. Many of the breeding birds on peatlands are rare and declining wading birds such as snipe, curlew, golden plover and dunlin; all of which are ground nesters. Often no more than a shallow depression in the mossy layer with camouflaged eggs and young beautifully mimicking the mottled colours of the peatland plants the nests are easily overlooked and trodden on by the unwary traveller. Boardwalks serve a vital purpose therefore

 Marsh Fritillary by Mike Brown

in allowing access to these delicate areas whilst protecting the habitat and its species from harm. They are also a habitat feature of their own, with the warm dry boards in spring and summer providing perching spots for dragonflies and damselflies or even birds of prey such as merlin and hen harrier.

The challenge of allowing visitors to enjoy the peatland experience without causing harm also involves careful planning to manage large numbers of people. An example of how difficult this can be, came to light at Cuilcagh Mountain Park, straddling Counties Cavan and Fermanagh, when an extensive 1.6 km boardwalk and 450 step wooden staircase popularly called the ‘stairway to heaven’ was constructed in 2014. Gaining wide popularity on social media the route saw visitor numbers rise from 3,000 a year to over 70,000. This rapid growth initially overwhelmed the park authorities and caused disruption for local residents, car parking problems and damage from visitors accessing the sensitive mountain plateau habitats. Temporary closures of the boardwalk were introduced while plans were hatched to develop more sensitive routes and provide education. Encouraging people to use public transport wherever possible to visit such sites is an important part of the solution.

Perched above a peatland it is worth contemplating what lies beneath the boards. Some peatlands can contain a peat depth of 10 metres, with layer after layer of material laid down and preserved over five to ten thousand years. The peat is an invaluable archive of ecological and cultural information. Pollen grains from plants and trees that grew in the vicinity over the millennia are wonderfully catalogued in sequence. Along with larger preserved material such as the well-known bog oaks we can use this information to interpret how species and habitats responded to past human and climatic influences and better predict the impact of climate change going forward. Peering into the depths of our past has revealed some incredible archaeological finds of which the bog bodies are among the most fascinating. Many of these have been shown to be ritual killings from around the Iron Age. The incredible state of preservation has even revealed the last meals of the unfortunate individuals. Cultural artefacts have also been preserved including one of the largest examples in Europe of an Iron Age trackway uncovered at Corlea in County Longford.

The one kilometre track consisting of wooden rails was made using over three hundred oak trees, all felled in a single year. Possibly constructed as a status symbol it unfortunately only lasted ten years before sinking into the bog. The National Museum of Ireland in Dublin has a fascinating exhibit on Iron Age Ireland and its people including a display of bog bodies.

Ireland's cultural connection with peatlands has changed over time with early evidence of a spiritual connection to a place that was 'neither land nor water', as well as a place where people would go to feel replenished and inspired. They were also valued at one time by communities for game and for resources such as peat for burning

 Dunlin by Rónán McLaughlin

and latterly the industrial exploitation for fuel and horticultural peat.

The consequence of this damage is now appreciated with declines in many of the important peatland species and significant losses of carbon from the drained and eroding peat. The recent United Nations climate change conference (COP 26) saw peatlands in the spotlight in recognition of the huge significance they have for biodiversity and climate change. Global goals have been agreed to conserve and restore peatlands to stem the loss of carbon from the peat and to help wildlife recover. The future for peatlands lies in public and private funding to help deliver the scale and urgency of restoration required meet these goals. There are opportunities for agriculture support alongside nature-based funding to support those people who look after and maintain healthy and recovering peatlands in recognition of the public benefits. New sustainable commercial opportunities are even being explored such as the growing and harvesting of Sphagnum mosses on worked out peatlands to provide material for the horticulture industry. For such major peatland investment to be realised requires a sympathetic and appreciative society and one of the best ways to achieve that is to encourage people to visit peatlands for themselves.

Ireland is fortunate in having excellent examples of well-maintained visitor facilities on peatlands from the national parks covering blanket bogs in the west (Glenveagh, Ballycroy, and Connemara), Killarney in the south and the Wicklow Mountains in the east. There are also the raised bogs of the central plain in the midlands with several accessible sites 'PERCHED ABOVE A centred around the Bog of PEATLAND IT IS WORTH Allen Nature Centre at Lullymore. Pollardston Fen near Kildare is a an all too rare opportunity to see the wonderful expanse of CONTEMPLATING WHAT LIES BENEATH THE BOARDS. SOME PEATLANDS CAN sedges, reeds and orchids in CONTAIN A PEAT DEPTH this calcareous spring-fed OF 10 METRES, WITH fen. These and many other peatlands in Ireland offer a sense of open space and freedom from our daily LAYER AFTER LAYER OF MATERIAL LAID DOWN AND PRESERVED confines, with recognised OVER FIVE TO TEN mental and physical health THOUSAND YEARS'. benefits, particularly relevant in a time of global pandemic. They also offer a chance to look back at the history of Ireland's people and look forward to a new era where peatlands are treasured and appreciated.

Clifton Bain is an author and works with the IUCN UK Peatland Programme on environmental policy and advocacy to promote the conservation of peatlands. His new book, The Peatlands of Britain and Ireland is out now. See our competition page for a chance to win a copy.