1. Peatlands: Seeking out a Source and the Brilliance of Bogs

I must be about to reach the source now, but it's actually hard to see any water at all at this point.

It's mostly bog.

But I can see wooden signs ahead pointing in different directions, and according to my map, the source is meant to coincide with a crossing of two footpaths.

So will that X mark the spot? OK, I'm standing by what looks like a headstone.

The words X head are engraved in it in a serif font.

It's surrounded by reeds.

There's a tiny stream flowing next to it and under the footpath.

Can't help noticing this stream also extends up the mound above the headstone.

And if I walk up that mound, there's a long strip of reeds.

That seems to evidence a continued flow of water, even if that is mostly under the surface.

OK, so the headstone maybe doesn't mark the actual source.

But maybe that's as it should be.

It signifies one of the things that's so valuable about this peatland area is a giant sponge.

It stores a lot of water thanks to its partnership with sphagnum moss.

It's a kind of moss that can soak up to 25 times its own weight.

And peatlands store carbon too.

Healthy peatlands are actually better at carbon storage than forests, even tropical rainforests, which tend to get all the airtime for that.

But so many of our peatlands have been drained and built on now, they only cover 3% of landmass on the earth.

So we really need our peatlands and other wetlands as well if we want to have a resilient fresh water system for the future.

They're not just underrated areas of sponginess and carbon storage.

They also help to keep the water in the rest of our system fresh and healthy, thanks to their filtering abilities and the biodiversity that they support.

Also, when we allow them to degrade, they can start vindictively spewing out carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.

So

why have our peatlands been

so neglected over time? In part, people didn't really recognise the environmental value they had until scientists began proving it.