Country Focus On Carmarthenshire Bogs

An extremely cold and windy day did not put off Rachael Garside from the BBC Radio Wales Country Focus programme from joining members of the Carmarthenshire Bogs Project out in the field. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Rachel and her producer Pauline Smith came to Pyllau Cochion common near Brechfa to look at the work that the project has been undertaking. They found out more about the importance of lowland bog habitats and the interesting discoveries the project has made over the last 18 months. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

A whole programme will be dedicated to the project on Sunday February 26 at 7am on BBC Radio Wales and it will then be available on the BBC radio i-Player for a month after. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Formed over thousands of years, lowland bogs are increasingly rare examples of an important peatland habitat supporting specialised but threatened wildlife. Bogs lock-up carbon in the peat, and when in good condition capture more from the atmosphere, helping to address climate change. They filter water for slow release into streams and are valuable in terms of our heritage, providing a unique, living peat archive that records climate, vegetation and landscape change. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Swansea University, Dyfed Archaeological Trust the Council and the National Botanic Gardens of Wales have been investigating and promoting the ecological, cultural and landscape importance of the bog habitats. Together they havediscovered more about our local climatic and vegetation history and explored how our ancestors lived within those landscapes. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​