Peatlands contain important information on environmental and cultural history. Peatlands are valuable for education and research, since they contain important archives of cultural and environmental history reaching back more than 10,000 years. Fossils in the peat matrix, including pollen, plant remains, archaeological artefacts and even human sacrifices, reveal the ecological and cultural history of the peatland itself, its surroundings, and even more distant regions (Joosten and Clarke 2002, see also Chapter 4).

Peatlands provide significant aesthetic, artistic, cultural, and spiritual values. Relatively few people live entirely from and in peatlands. For many more people, peatlands provide for part of their livelihoods. In addition, they are part of their traditions and have a special place within the ancestral land area, being part of their spiritual and aesthetic world, frequently occurring in folklore, literature, paintings, and other art (Joosten and Clarke 2002).

The cultural and aesthetic values of natural and cultural peatlands offer high potential for ecotourism and recreation. The limited accessibility of mires and peatlands does not make them particularly suitable for mass recreation. Where facilities are available, however, large numbers of people may visit peatland reserves, e.g. the Everglades NP (USA), North York Moors NP (UK), and Spreewald Biosphere Reserve (Germany) (Joosten and Clarke 2002). In many other countries peatlands are an important part of the national park or protected area networks that attract tourists, such as in Canada, Finland, the Baltic countries, and the Netherlands. Many more mires are used for low- intensity recreation.

Such ecotourism can provide additional income, such as in the Tasek Bera Ramsar site in Peninsular Malaysia where local communities earn additional income by selling traditional handicrafts and guiding boat tours through the swamps (Santharamohana 2003). In Indonesia, Orangutan rehabilitation centres in some peat swamp forest reserves (e.g. Tanjung Putting, Central Kalimantan) attract local and international tourists. Much of the potential of peatlands as special and intriguing habitats remains unexplored, perhaps also because there is limited experience with the special facilities that could make them more accessible and attractive to visitors.