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| Image from BBC News website, credit Keith Morris |
Borth Bog made the news in February of this year due to a fire which burnt a large area of the bog.
Follow this link to read the BBC News article on the burning of Borth Bog.
Pay special attention to the quote from the "Wetland Science and Conservation expert Dr Christian Dunn", reassuring us that neither goblins nor fairies were to blame for this fire.
My personal experience of fire
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| The scorched landscape following the Black Saturday fires, 2009 (Photo credit: Katie Drummond) |
I moved to Melbourne in late 2008 and in early 2009 Victoria experienced the worst bushfires in history. 173 people died and 414 were injured as a result of the fires.
In my job for Melbourne Water as a River Health Support Officer we visited many properties that had been fire affected and observed first hand the devastation of fire.
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| Changes in runoff regimes following fire (Photo credit: Katie Drummond) |
My colleagues at Melbourne Water, Katie Drummond and Anna Zsoldos, gave a great presentation at the River Symposium in 2011, and also at the 6th Australian Stream Management Conference in 2012, on Managing Waterways in Fire Affected Communities (follow the link to view the slides from this presentation).
Fire risk in Wales?
Obviously the situations in Wales and Victoria were very different, however, the proximity of the fire to the houses in the village of Borth does highlight the risks to local people living in this area close to the bog.
It may not have been caused by goblins or fairies but whether natural or human induced, this fire should make people think about what is in their back yards.
Connecting people to their local environments is an essential part of any conservation effort, be it bogs in Wales or waterways in Australia.
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