THE VALUE OF BOGS

Thirty percent of Finland - the largest percentage of any country in the world - is some kind of bog. Legislation, however, protects only 8 percent of the bogs, and 90 percent of the protected mires are situated in northern Finland. 60 percent of Finnish peat-filled wetlands have been drained, posing a huge threat to the rich wildlife and flora that thrive in these areas.

Three hundred years ago there were plenty of reindeer in bogs throughout Finland. In the 19th century their numbers declined. Finns escaping oppression under Russian rule often hid in the mires and they hunted extensively for food. Then with the draining of the bogs the reindeer became virtually extinct. Twenty years ago they were reintroduced from Russia and the population has since grown to about 1000 animals.

But there are other bog species - 81 of them that are threatened. Forty years ago, even the whooper swan, Finland's national bird, hovered on the brink of extinction.

Bogs date back 10 000 years to the retreat of the last glaciers. Wherever the huge ice rivers cut through the soil and rock, leaving pools of water to collect, sphagnum moss took over from birch and pine. The combined effects of a damp, north-temperate climate and poor drainage ensured that precipitation surpassed runoff and evaporation. In these water-logged and cool conditions, decomposition could not keep pace with the accumulation of mosses and grasses, so peat formed as the dead vegetation compressed under its own weight.

Of the existing 10 million hectares of bogs in Finland, forestry has drained some 6 million to let trees grow, adding 25 percent to their harvestable acreage. Energy peat producers will eat up around 57 000 hectares annually over the next few years, strip-mining the peat like coal, to heat the homes of some 700 000 Finns, the one-quarter of the population that heats with peat.

Bogs are vital for helping to stabilize waterflow rates and preventing periods of flood and drought. The bogs are a great source for all the organic products that are so much in vogue now. The decaying sphagnum, for example, is said to have healing effects on the skin. Other bog plants are being harvested for their medicinal properties. And moss from the bogs is widely used to clean oil spills in the Baltic.

Scandinavian Press, Issue 2, 2001