Often, nature conservation can feel like a “humans v. nature” debate. When climate change and biodiversity loss is unambiguously driven by anthropogenic activities, that certainly does ring true.

But it’s important to remember that we are also part of nature, having “grown up” with it throughout evolutionary time. We’re linked, whether we like it or not.

Wrapping up our April focus on Northern Ireland’s peatlands, we’re hearing from the Peatlands Team at Ulster Wildlife about what peatlands mean to them, and thinking about how we’re all connected to these ecosystems.

James and Ive from Ulster Wildlife in the field with volunteers.

Forming extraordinarily slowly, peatlands have stored thousands of years of carbon. For Claire McVeigh, Peatland Collaborative Network Coordinator, this is the key factor: “Peatland restoration matters to me because peatlands are such important carbon stores. Unfortunately the majority of our peatland is degraded in some way and releasing carbon to the atmosphere. Restoring them to their natural state is one of the most significant nature-based solutions we have to try and combat climate change.”

Here, the focus is on the future. With looming targets for climate change mitigation, peatland restoration seeks to prevent further emissions from the estimated  600 gigatonnes of stored carbon in global peatlands. Degraded peatlands act as a carbon source rather than sink, as the plant remains buried deep within them are exposed to oxygen and begin to decompose.

In 2021, three-quarters of UK adults reported they were worried about the climate. As understanding of the impacts of climate change has heightened, so has our anxiety. However, people who worry about the climate are also more likely to take action: going peat-free in your own garden or writing to your MP about peat legislation are small actions you can take to make an impact.

Digger on Haughey’s Bog during restoration work. Photo: Ulster Wildlife

When worried about the future, it helps to focus on the present, and nature gives us opportunities to be mindful. Ive Rouart, Senior Peatlands Officer, says: “It’s great to see a habitat that has been heavily damaged by human activity come back to life. From bare peat to a vibrant habitat with colourful sphagnum mosses, the white fluffy cotton grasses, the dragonflies buzzing around and snipe drumming.”

Regulating ourselves through contact with the natural world is part of being human: look no further than the Covid-19 pandemic houseplant boom for evidence. Sometimes conservation can get weighed down by numbers, but seeing these species in person can remind us what it’s all for.

When it comes to bogs, the difference between healthy and damaged is particularly stark – extraction in particular leaves behind desolate, bare peat, devoid of diversity. Ive’s focus on the beautiful wildlife of our peatlands shows how deeply we value healthy habitats, and how fully experiencing them can bring us joy. Bringing back that vibrance brings something back to us, too.

Peat bog in Scotland with people. Mezzotint from “Liber Studiorum”, J.M.W. Turner, ca. early 19th century. Photo: V&A

In all that time the peat was forming, human history was also unfolding. It takes around 1000 years to form a metre of peat. Say we go back to when that metre began to form, and land ourselves in 1025.

While the peat was rising, the Danish King Cnut was ruling England, Denmark, and Norway following Viking successes. On the other side of the world, the Heian court was delving into the Murasaki Shikibu’s recently-published The Tale of Genji, the masterwork of Japanese literature. Ibn Sina completed The Canon of Medicine, an awesomely influential work of early modern medicine would teach medical students in Europe for the next 500 years.

So peatlands also represent our past. Simon Gray, Head of Peatland Recovery, says: “Bogs have gone from being so closely tied with Irish culture to being exploited and seen as nothing more than wasteland. Now we’re seeing them given a second chance and trying to reignite that connection. For me this is one of the reasons that peatland restoration is so fulfilling.”

Our connection with the environment manifests in various ways. For some, the question is how we protect future generations from the consequences of climate change. Some relish the beauty of a healthy ecosystem, a feeling that we’ve had for hundreds of thousands of years. Perhaps some look to the past, and think of the history we share with the natural world.

Or maybe, as Simon suggests: “on a simple level there is nothing that is quite as satisfying as blocking a drainage channel and seeing the water rise up close to the surface again!””