Students in fight to save raised bog

STUDENTS from Oatridge college in West Lothian have launched a campaign to save a prime example of one of Europe's rarest wildlife habitats.

The members of the group are studying for a Higher National Diploma in Countryside Management and have been working to conserve a natural area of raised bog, near the site of Low Moss prison at Bishopbriggs in East Dunbartonshire.

Their main tasks have involved clearing silver birch trees which have colonised the area and which are sucking water out of the bog, and building a series of dams which will retain water and prevent the bog drying out.

Raised bogs have been disappearing across the country due to the extraction of peat for burning and to make garden compost.

Environment lecturer at Oatridge, John McGregor, said: "Raised bogs not only hold carbon dioxide which has been locked up over millions of years, but provide a habitat for a diverse range of rare flora and fauna.

"The students have been clearing the silver birch trees which are threatening the very existence of the raised bog, and then they are using the felled timber to construct dams to retain water, which is vital to its conservation."