The Grand Canyon, Great Barrier Reef, Taj Mahal and Great Wall of China are some of the world’s most magnificent spectacles of nature and human engineering, and all are considered to have immense cultural and natural value by UNESCO. Now, a bog in Scotland has joined their ranks.
Flow Country in the far north of Scotland is the biggest blanket bog and one of the largest carbon stores on the whole planet. After 40 years of campaigning by environmentalists, it has been made a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s the first peatland to be given the coveted label.
The bog covers around 1,500 square miles of Caithness and Sunderland, with peat as deep as 15m in some areas. It supports a diverse population of flora and fauna, including dragonflies, bogbean and rare birds like the red-throated diver.
Graham Neville, who led the campaign for UNESCO designation, said: ‘World Heritage Site status will lead to greater understanding of the Flow Country and raise the profile of Scotland’s peatlands globally for their value as biodiverse habitats and important carbon sinks.
‘It is a wonderful recognition of the expert stewardship of farmers and crofters in maintaining this incredible ecosystem as a natural legacy for future generations.’
Flow Country’s designation brings the UK’s number of World Heritage Sites up to 35. It sits alongside the likes of Westminster Abbey, the Lake District and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal, which was recently crowned the most beautiful UNESCO site in the world. On Time Out we also reported that two other designated UK sites were recently named the most popular in Europe.
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