Senior lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast Ray Flynn joins us to discuss the incredible importance of Ireland’s bogs. With the government proposing to ban the sale and distribution of turf, we examine the damage already done to the island’s wetlands and how some of it can be undone. Ray tells us the value of bogs in mitigating against climate change, and highlights that the scale of peat extraction in Ireland essentially amounts to the largest open-cast mine in Western Europe.The Explainer is brought to you by The Journal. Providing open access to valuable journalism in Ireland has been the aim of The Journal for a decade. You can contribute to ensure we can keep questioning, investigating, debunking, explaining and informing at www.thejournal.ie/contribute/