Tuesday 2nd June, 2020, marked the first ever World Peatlands Day – a celebration of all things boggy, swampy, sucky, blanket-y, fen-y, etc. The International Peatland Society launched the event in August 2019, to draw attention to peatlands as being a unique ecosystem type, with a unique set of values and challenges associated with their sustainable management, and thus deserving of a separate international day of recognition. The longer-established World Wetlands Day happens on 2nd February every year, bringing the vast range of wetlands into the public eye; ecosystems that we all interact with and rely on in some way. Peatlands are one major part of that story.
In celebration of the day, re-peat put on Peat-Fest, a very impressive 24 hours of online peat-related fun. The British Ecological Society’s Peatlands Research and Conservation Ecology Groups co-hosted a peat- and conservation-themed quiz (part-organised and attended by members of the Tropical Wetlands Consortium). Here are a few popular tweets illustrating yesterday’s celebration….
But if World Peatlands Day passed you by, don’t fear; there are plenty more days to celebrate peatlands to come*. International BogDay is on Sunday 26th July, the World Bogsnorkelling Championships (now cancelled) are usually in mid-Wales (UK) on the August Bank Holiday weekend, and in July of 2021, the Swamp Soccer World Championships is to be held in Finland. Do let us know if you spot more opportunities to celebrate these important ecosystems, in the Global North, South or swamps.
*Depending on how the global pandemonium is managed in the coming months.