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Celebrating International Bog Day with more ‘Eyes on the Bog’ than ever

Peatlands are among the UK’s most valuable natural habitats—storing carbon, filtering drinking water, supporting rare wildlife, and offering a window into the past through their rich biological and cultural layers. Each year on the fourth Sunday in July, International Bog Day shines a spotlight on these vital ecosystems, encouraging communities to connect with and protect their local peatlands.

Peatlands are among the UK’s most valuable natural habitats—storing carbon, filtering drinking water, supporting rare wildlife, and offering a window into the past through their rich biological and cultural layers. Each year on the fourth Sunday in July, International Bog Day shines a spotlight on these vital ecosystems, encouraging communities to connect with and protect their local peatlands.

While many UK peatlands remain degraded due to historical and ongoing land use pressures, a growing number of restoration initiatives are helping to reverse the damage. A key part of this work is monitoring the recovery of peatlands—a task increasingly taken up by local volunteers through the Eyes on the Bog programme.

Developed by the IUCN UK Peatland Programme, Eyes on the Bog is a low-cost, long-term monitoring toolkit that allows communities, conservation groups and land managers to track peatland health. In 2024, the Programme awarded small grants to several organisations across the UK to expand their monitoring efforts. These included:

  • Cumbria Wildlife Trust
  • Northumberland Peat Partnership
  • South West Peatland Partnership
  • Yorkshire Peat Partnership
  • National Trust projects in the Peak District, Yorkshire Dales, and Northern Ireland

Funding supported the purchase of equipment, training of citizen scientists, and creative outreach—from story maps to peatland-inspired sculptures—designed to bring peatlands to life for a wider audience.

Person in outdoor clothing stood next to a metal sculpture of a hare with a smart phone holder.

Sculptor Owen Phillips with his fixed-point photography post on Marsden Moor. Credit Nick Singleton

A group of people in outdoor clothing stood on a hill and smiling at the camera.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust Eyes on the Bog volunteers. Credit Mel Sugden

Metal sculpture in front of a stone wall. The sculpture features a curlew with open wings and a dragonfly.

Northumberland Peat Partnership's Eyes on the Bog totemic marker at Moss Peteral Farm. Credit Alex Robinson.

This year, in celebration of International Bog Day on Sunday 27 July, the IUCN UK Peatland Programme is offering a new round of funding to support first-time Eyes on the Bog users in setting up monitoring plots. The Programme is also working with The Wildlife Trusts to develop a digital map and free app for recording Eyes on the Bog data, making it easier than ever to get involved.

Jane Akerman, Programme Manager at the IUCN UK Peatland Programme, said:

“Eyes on the Bog is a great way to engage people with peatlands and show them that when it comes to peat, ‘wetter is better’. It’s been fantastic to see how last year’s funding was used—from training volunteers to telling compelling stories about peatlands through maps and art.I’d encourage everyone to visit their nearest Eyes on the Bog plot—or set one up themselves. There’s nothing quite like discovering the hidden wonders of these squishy, bouncy landscapes.”

Warren Goodall, a National Trust volunteer working with the Eyes on the Bog initiative, added:

“All of these studies are designed to be long term. With peat growing about a millimetre a year, you can see how long it’s going to take us to see if there’s any change or not…That’s the work that we’re doing with Eyes on the Bog….For our grandchildren, and their children. So that this is here and in a healthy state in decades in the future is really important.”

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