2016Natural Bog - First Day Cover

The Estonians sometimes say that somebody is going to the bog. But what kind of destination it actually is? The bog is the last stage of a swamp, when the surface of the swamp has become convex as a result of growth over millions of years and the swamp only is fed from precipitation. Due to the scarcity of nutrients and the acid bog water only a few species manage to live in bogs. Unfortunately it is not easy to send somebody into a bog, as a large proportion of Estonian bogs have been influenced by drying and peat mining. As a result it is important to protect peat bogs from the people’s different economic activities because the blank created by the disappearance of bogs is complicated to and expensive to replace. Just a hundred years ago going into the bog meant a hopeless situation or place which cannot be turned into a field. Today, the meaning field of the bog is connected with nature, peace and silence the preservation and restoration of which is being dealt with and where people willingly go.