On August 27th 2022, the Conservative Government promised to ban the sale of horticultural peat by 2024, “to protect peatlands and the natural environment”.
However, legislation has yet to be passed and, according to calculations made by The Wildlife Trusts using industry data reported to the Government, 859,660m3 of peat was dug up to supply amateur gardeners from 2022 to 2023 alone. This volume of peat is enough to fill 7,641 double decker buses.
Joan Edwards, director of policy and public affairs at The Wildlife Trusts says:
“The ban on selling peat to amateur gardeners is absurdly overdue – it’s been mooted for over thirty years and promised for the last three. The dither and delay over its implementation puts the UK’s climate and nature targets at risk and has entirely avoidable consequences for emissions, wildlife and water quality.
“Healthy peatlands are one of the UK’s most effective natural tools in managing the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events such as flooding and wildfires. Peatlands contain vast amounts of carbon, they reduce flood risk by storing water, and provide fantastic habitat for rare birds such as curlew and golden plover. By contrast, extracting peat releases huge quantities of carbon dioxide and destroys important ecosystems that take centuries to form.”
On September 12th the second reading of Sarah Dyke's Private Member's Bill takes place – the Horticultural Peat (Prohibition of Sale) Bill.
The Wildlife Trusts are backing this bill and calling for the Government to put a ban on the use of peat in horticulture into law as swiftly as possible.
