In 1950, two brothers were out harvesting peat in the marshes near their homes in Denmark. The water was low, and they saw what looked like the outline of a human body whose skin was perfectly intact. Alarmed, they quickly notified the authorities and a murder investigation ensued. The body was in such good shape that police started looking at missing persons reports. But this was no recent death. A forensic exam revealed a shocking truth—this body, now known as Tollund Man—was dated back to the 5th century. Fifteen years later a similar situation happened two men cutting peat in Scottish Highlands. They found a the body of a man whose clothes, while rather old-fashioned, had not decomposed. Turns out, he was killed about 250 years earlier.
The anaerobic, acidic conditions of peat soil preserved the clothing (and Tollund Man’s skin) almost perfectly. Estimates of approximately 2,000 preserved “bog bodies,” many even older than these, have been found in the peat bogs or northern Europe and the UK.
Peat holds more than human history. It is, and has always been, a valuable commodity. Peat bogs are composed of a deep layer of mucky soil found in low-lying freshwater marshes, created by the highly productive growth and partial decomposition of wetland vegetation. Left alone for millions of years, this pure organic material—carbon—would turn to coal. In its fresher form, it still makes excellent natural fuel. Residents of western Europe and the UK have used chunks of peat to heat their homes for generations.
However, as you can imagine, this comes at a great ecological cost. Harvesting peat (along with drainage and building, just like American wetlands) robs wetland habitats of their base, destroying the systems crucial for vegetation, fish, birds, and other wildlife up the food chain. Like our freshwater bogs here, the peatlands of northern, temperate ecosystems are also home to rare and interesting plants, including carnivorous species.
Ireland and England have lost 99% and 94% of their peatlands, respectively, although due to quicker appreciation of their value Scotland has lost only 44%. Even with all this loss, it’s estimated that 3 billion tons of carbon are stored in the UK’s peatlands. Peat is an incredible carbon sink, retaining atmospheric carbon at a rate much higher than forests. According to the UK’s Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, “peatlands hold more than a quarter of all soil carbon, even though they account for only 3% of Earth’s land area.”
It is only in the last decade that laws have been passed banning the harvesting and use of peat for fuel, backed by stiff financial penalties and potential jail time. Just last year, England banned the sale of peat moss due to the damage its harvest causes the bogs. Extension scientists from Oregon State have documented major damage to Canadian and Russian wetlands from the horticultural sale of peat moss, and are encouraging gardeners to find alternative products. According to the 2024 UK Peatland Strategy Report, there have been massive efforts in the last few years and goals set to protect and restore these rare wetland ecosystems that are doing important work of stabilizing the global climate.
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