Bog trotters

It takes three years for a footprint to disappear from the soft moss surface of a bog. For many, stepping into the back garden is enough to get the bog experience this week. But we’re being encouraged further afield today.

Choose from the top 20 bogs to visit in Ireland for World Wetlands Day, with the theme: Wetlands Take Care of Water. Bogs and fens store up to 98 per cent of their weight in water, which is released slowly during dry weather to replenish supplies, and is stored in wet weather to help prevent flooding in river catchments. The water in bogs and fens is the source of life for most mosses that live there and which create bogs in the first place. Visit the Bog of Allen Nature Centre in Lullymore, Co Kildare or ipcc.ie