Government call for peat phase-out welcomed by Wildlife Trusts

MP BACKING: George Osborne on a trip to a nature reserve

January 2011: Cheshire Wildlife Trust has welcomed the launch of a Government consultation which looks to phase out the use of peat in all horticultural sectors in the UK.

The announcement at the end of last year by the Natural Environment Minister Richard Benyon calls for the elimination of peat from the amateur gardeners market by 2020, and its use by all gardeners, growers and procurers by 2030 at the latest.

The UK currently uses three million cubic metres of peat every year for horticulture, with almost three quarters used by amateur gardeners and the rest by professional growers. Peat extraction continues at a number of locations in Cheshire, with only a single remaining site not affected by cutting - Holcroft Moss, a Cheshire Wildlife Trust nature, although it is now largely isolated by surrounding roads and heavily drained farmland.

Peatlands are one of the most threatened habitats in the UK, with several highly specialised plants and animals thriving within them. Large scale extraction of peat has a number of effects, crucially in changing how water is stored within the habitat - with the drying-out of peatlands at the heart of the decline of many species such as the carnivorous sundew plant, which relies on constant damp conditions.

Peat extraction increase carbon dioxide emissions
Extraction of peat also contributes to carbon dioxide emissions, with healthy peatlands actually storing carbon dioxide within them as carbon ‘sinks', helping to reduce the so-called ‘greenhouse' effect that contributes to climate change. As peat forms over thousands of years, its use is not considered sustainable and it cannot be readily replaced or recreated quickly.

The consultation comes at a crucial time for this rare and fragile habitat, and although welcomed by the Wildlife Trust, the conservation charity also warns that even greater urgency is needed if we are to restore and manage our peatlands effectively.

Paul Wilkinson, Head of Living Landscape for The Wildlife Trusts, said: ‘We believe that extracting peat is an unsustainable practice, both because of its effects on wildlife and in terms of climate change.

‘Peat bogs provide a habitat for many species, and are one of our best assets in fighting climate change. On the flip side, drained and overexploited peat soils give off huge amounts of carbon. In addition to their role in climate change, peatlands provide other benefits such as grazing land, grouse moors and clean water. Restoration may even protect property from flooding by storing more water on the hills during storms.'

Following a visit to Cheshire Wildlife Trust's Saltersley Moss nature reserve last year, part of the larger Lindow Moss site which is still subject to commercial peat cutting, Cheshire MP George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: ‘Having seen for myself the wildlife that can flourish in peatland habitats such as those found at the Wildlife Trusts nature reserve in my own Cheshire constituency, I support the call by DEFRA to see a reduction in the use of peat in gardens and horticulture, and the ambitious but necessary target for peat to no longer being used at all by 2030 at the latest, in turn securing a future for the wildlife found in these habitats.'

The consultation closes on Friday, 11 March 2011 and can be found at www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/peat/index.htm