Lately people are beginning to realise that we do not have an inexhaustible supply of sites. Many Irish bogs are now faced with the threat of extinction. Once lost, they cannot be replaced. Now is the time to realise the threat and act responsibly. Bogs are composed of peat.
Peat bogs develop where the ground is waterlogged.
As the vegetation grows under these flooded conditions, it dies and accumulates as peat. This happens because waterlogging prevents decomposition, a process which is carried out by micro-organisms, and requires oxygen. As the peat thickens the main source of water and minerals to the plants on the surface is rainfall. This means that bogs are very acidic. The raised bogs are found in the Midlands.