HAWLEY — It’s been 50 years since the Hawley Bog was declared a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service, one of only 11 in Massachusetts, and visitors got to see why on Tuesday with a celebratory guided tour.

The celebration, led by The Nature Conservancy and the Five College Consortium, was an opportunity to highlight the rich array of insects and plants at the Hawley Bog. Rene Wendell, a land steward with The Nature Conservancy who oversees much of the preservation work of the bog, emphasized his appreciation of the bog and gratitude to those who preserve it, and read accounts from visitors over the past four months who called the bog “beautiful, peaceful and fabulous.”

“It’s one of the best intact New England bogs around,” Wendell said. “Something that is important to consider is its importance to people. This is our most visited preserve of all The Nature Conservancy properties in Massachusetts.”

Wendell credits the high visitor rates at the Hawley Bog to the Five College Consortium (consisting of Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst) that studies and observes the bog’s biodiversity.

“It has been a real gem for the campuses to be able to bring field trips up here for individual researchers or faculty members to come up,” said Kevin Kennedy, director of strategic engagement at the Five College Consortium.

The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit, handles maintenance and preservation of the Hawley Bog, which it co-owns with the Five College Consortium. The Nature Conservancy’s Director of Stewardship Karen Lombard said the organization manages a total of about 8,000 acres of land across Massachusetts.

“One of the things that The Nature Conservancy is really committed to is biodiversity,” explained The Nature Conservancy’s Massachusetts Executive Director Manikka Bowman. “The ability to have this type of land preserve allows us to have different discoveries and observations because it protects nature.”

The Hawley Bog is home to several species of orchids and the carnivorous pitcher plant, according to Lombard. Bowman mentioned the importance the bog has in storing carbon, which ultimately helps The Nature Conservancy fight climate change.

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Part of the Hawley Bog’s unique nature is its high altitude, along with the boardwalk that allows people to venture deeper into the preserve.

“It creates just a wonderful opportunity for our campuses,” Kennedy said, “to have kind of a lab and field preserve space to access.”

An earlier version of this article inaccurately described how the Hawley Bog ultimately helps The Nature Conservancy fight climate change. The bog stores carbon from the atmosphere.