FARM BOG ACTION
‘Farm bog is one of the largest of the 6 remaining peat bogs in Greater London.
The area of the bog has contracted significantly in size (60%) since it was designated a SSSI in 1953, and several plant species have been lost from the site.
The main issues affecting it are drying because of the stream being deepened; succession to woodland; and pollution.’
by Wimbledon & Putney Commons ECOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING REPORT 2021
Farm Bog
More historical maps of Wimbledon can be found at Wimbledom Museum
I nearly chopped myself with the billhook. This was so difficult that I had to give up.
And then some of us wove in the thinner branches.
A mistake I made.
That day, after I had finished sawing all the trees, without instructed by conservator Andrew Harding, I took it upon myself to continue sawing the next area of trees.
I learnt that the aim of conservation isn’t just to cut down all the trees to restore the exact original habitat, but to carefully assess how to preserve the new ecosystems that have evolved over a century or two, and to ensure that the original ecosystems are not swallowed up.
The conservators want the Commons to have different levels of vegetation to ensure biodiversity.
The tree I mistakenly cut in half was Alder buckthrond whose leaves are the main food of the brimstone butterfly.
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Documented by Louise Hung