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LOWLAND RAISED BOG SSSIs THREATENED BY COMMERCIAL PEAT EXTRACTION
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Resource > Briefing > LAST CHANCE TO SEE ...? -
LOWLAND RAISED BOG SSSIs THREATENED BY COMMERCIAL PEAT EXTRACTION
“Peatlands are a valuable treasure within Britain's natural heritage. Our peatlands are unique in world terms, both in themselves and in the birds, invertebrates and plants which they support [1].”
Sir William Wilkinson, former chairman of the Nature Conservancy Council
The plastic-wrapped 'multi-purpose' compost in millions of British garden sheds is almost all that's left of a unique primaeval wilderness: lowland raised bogs. With our peatlands still being mined to boost the profits of peat firms and garden centres, less than six per cent of Britain's original lowland raised peat bog habitat remains in a near natural condition.
Raised bogs occur in areas where they are entirely dependent on rainfall for their supply of water and are found mainly on low plains or broad valley floors. They are formed by the decaying remains of plants such as sphagnum mosses which retain large amounts of water and form a dome of peatland many metres deep. These domes were traditionally exploited for fuel - but at a rate that did not necessarily stop them remaining “active” (i.e. continuing to form peat).
Once considered to be wastelands, raised bogs are now seen for what they are - the last surviving remnants of a habitat rich in wildlife as well as social and biological history. They form a unique and fascinating home for wildlife such as the Great Sundew (Britain's largest carnivorous plant) and birds such as Golden Plover. Peatlands are unique because they are acidic and low in nutrients, testing conditions in which only specialised wildlife can thrive and in which decay barely takes place. Locked in the peat is an irreplaceable archive dating back perhaps 10,000 years to the last ice age. Ancient boats, human bodies such as Lindow Man, trees and pollen have all been preserved in peat bogs.
Since 1990 conservation organisations under the umbrella of the Peatlands Campaign Consortium have campaigned to protect the last remnants of this primaeval habitat because oftheir importance for wildlife and their role in affecting carbon dioxide levels and thus climate change. Coined “global coolers”[2], peatlands remove or “sequester” carbon from atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and are known as “carbon sinks” or “pools”. Peatlands are thought to contain between 329 and 528 billion tonnes of carbon (equivalent to 1,200- 1,900 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide). Unless the bogs are disturbed by human activities, such as commercial peat extraction, much of this carbon can be stored for near geological time-scales [3].
As a result of the campaign some of the major DIY stores and garden centres have pledged not to sell peat that comes from Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs)1, for example, and sixty-six local authorities have signed the Wildlife Trusts' Peatland Protection Charter pledging to go peat free [4].
Yet industrial peat extraction continues to consume this precious and irreplaceable habitat because our lowland raised bogs are also of commercial value for peat [5].
Raised bog habitat is now reduced to a fragment of what was never an extensive habitat type. It only ever represented a small proportion of the peatland resource in Great Britain, the rest being 'blanket bog' found mainly in upland areas and 'intermediate bog'.
In 1996 the National Peatland Resource Inventory (NPRI) was published representing the most comprehensive assessment of the lowland raised bog resource in Great Britain to date [6].This inventory lists all known existing or former lowland raised bog sites. Within this inventory raised bog is classified according to a number of sub-categories based on land cover. Four classes of active raised bog are defined: natural or near- natural vegetation; degraded vegetation (usually burnt or dry); drained; and revegetated or regenerating cutover.
Of an original 69, 700 ha , only 3,836 (5.5 per cent) ha can be described as “near natural”, the first of these sub-classes. In other words less than six percent of this habitat has survived relatively undamaged. The majority of near natural raised bog survives in Scotland where there are 2,515 ha. In Wales only 818 ha remains and in England just 503 ha. Raised bogs are concentrated in southern and eastern Scotland and in north west England. The largest sites occur in England while the majority of sites in Scotland are small.
The NPRI focussed on Great Britain but for Northern Ireland a resource inventory of raised bogs was completed in 1988 [7]. This survey estimated that 2,270 ha of lowland raised bog (about 9 per cent of all lowland raised bog) was still intact, the remainder being cut principally by hand. Lowland raised bogs generally occur in the flood plains of the river valleys in Antrim and Londonderry and on the southern shores of Lough Neagh [8].
Conservationists are keen to protect remaining raised bogs. However, just 10 per cent (114 sites) of the original resource in Britain has been designated SSSI. This includes areas of active and inactive bog. Of these SSSIs, sixteen sites have been additionally designated as National Nature Reserves (NNRs) [9].
Scotland now holds the lion's share of active raised bog sites yet there are concerns that sites which fulfill the criteria for designation as SSSI have not yet been designated as such [10]. Consequently, they will not receive appropriate protection from damaging activities. In Scotland there are at least 11 raised bogs which are not designated as SSSIs and have planning permission for peat extraction [11]. Cladence Moss in East Kilbride, for example, has not been designated as a SSSI and is being destroyed to provide horticultural peat.
At least seven raised bogs in Northern Ireland have been designated as ASSI [12]. In Northern Ireland designation of ASSIs is not yet complete which raises the possibility that sites may be destroyed before they are designated.
Active raised bog in Europe is now so scarce that it is listed under the European Council directive on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora [13]. Within the Directive it is described as priority habitat for which the community has an international responsibility to conserve.
Not only are active raised bogs listed in the Habitats Directive but so too are degraded raised bogs which are still capable of natural regeneration. That lowland raised bogs are the only habitat to have a degraded category proposed in the Habitats Directive reflects the importance of this habitat.
Sites to be protected under the Directive are known as Special Areas of Conservation. For the UK a total of 30 active raised bog sites has been proposed for European protection under the Habitats' Directive (five in England, eighteen in Scotland, five in Northern Ireland and two in Wales). The selection of such a small number of sites has outraged conservationists who have highlighted a further 101 sites that meet the criteria for designation as a SAC (17 in England, 56 in Scotland, 27 in Northern Ireland and one in Wales) [14, 15].
Peat bogs have long been exploited by human beings. They have been drained and reclaimed for agriculture, planted for forestry, and dug for fuel. Formerly, these practices posed the greatest threat to raised bog habitat. But in recent years commercial peat cutting has become a significant threat to the long term survival of our remaining raised bog habitat.
Peat was traditionally cut by hand and being a slow method this allowed some moss vegetation to regenerate. Since the 1960s, however, major commercial companies have introduced intensive methods of extraction that has resulted in 'mining' of the peat rather than anything approaching sustainable 'harvesting'[16]. Modern mechanized peat extraction is far more brutal. Sod cutting has been replaced by deep trench cutting, surface milling or sausage extrusion. These methods generally require deep drainage ditches which turn the bog surface into a bare desert and all but around half a metre of the peat is taken [17].
Although raised bogs have areas notified as SSSIs/ASSIs or NNRs, in many cases this has not protected them from being cut for compost or grow-bags. In the early 1990s over 65 per cent of the UK peat extraction industry's raised bog land holdings (5212 ha) were within SSSIs/ASSIs [18].
Planning permission for commercial peat extraction still exists on at least 18 raised bogs with areas notified as SSSIs (see map and Appendix Table 1). The existence of planning permission does not necessarily mean that the site is currently being worked but the threat of future commercial extraction remains.
The reason that so many peat extraction licences are on raised bog SSSIs is because in many cases planning consent for peat extraction pre-dates the SSSI notification. Many existing permissions for peat extraction in England were given in the years following the 1947 Planning Act [19]. This containedfew, if any, conditions to control working practices, no environmental assessment and the permissions were given when methods of extraction were far less damaging than those in use today.
Currently it falls to local authorities to revoke planning consents if sites of nature conservation interest are being damaged. Local authorities are then liable to compensate mineral operators for profits foregone, a huge financial burden. Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, for example, has expressed 'grave concern at its inability to protect SSSIs which are subject to old planning permissions' [20].
Revocation of minerals permissions tends to be costly. In 1996 the countryside agency Scottish Natural Heritage paid £1.8 million to acquire the leasehold on Flanders Moss SSSI. The cost of compensation for Ballynahone Bog SSSI in Northern Ireland was £2 million [21].
In England, the commercial peat extraction industry has had a huge impact on the peat resource. The five largest and most important raised bogs in England are Thorne Moor, Hatfield Moor, Fenns and Whixall Mosses, Wedholme Flow and Bolton Fell. Commercial peat extraction continues on all but Fenns and Whixall Mosses.
Thorne and Hatfield Moors are the largest lowland raised peatbogs in Britain and their size has been described as “extraordinary by English standards” [22]. Both sites meet the criteria for designation as Special Protection Areas under the Birds Directive and as Special Areas of Conservation under the Habitats Directive. Both sites also qualify as Ramsar sites under the Convention on the Conservation of Wetlands of International Importance. Thorne alone has recorded 3,000 species of invertebrates and about 150 of those are nationally scarce or endangered. Yet these sites of international significance have been subject to the worst excesses of the peat extraction process.
Traditionally these sites were cut by local people for peat but in the 1950s planning permission was granted for industrial peat extraction and both sites are now being milled for peat by the Scotts Company2 using a strip mining process that takes all but a few centimetres of the bog. Ironically English Nature now owns Thorne and Hatfield Moors which were given “to the nation” by Fisons. However, the deal that was settled allows the holding company to continue peat extraction in places where work had already started [23]. It has been claimed that full compensation for revocation would cost perhaps £20 million although it is thought that the cost of revocation could be substantially reduced [24].
In a dramatic new twist to the tortured history of these extraordinary sites, English Nature, proposed stripping 100 hectares of Thorne Moor and 490 hectares of Hatfield Moor of their SSSI status. However, in response to local community concern and scientific and legal objections about the sites' protection, English Nature decided not to go ahead with the denotification on 2nd December 1997, thus underlining the nature conservation value of the sites. Michael Meacher, Environment Secretary said, “I am delighted that English Nature's Council has reached the right decision in relation to these important peatland sites” [25].
The strength of local response reflected the degree to which communities are prepared to fight to protect their local wildlife. However, even though the sites are not going to bedenotified, the peat milling will continue under the existing agreement.
Bolton Fell is the fourth largest lowland raised bog SSSI in north west England and among the ten largest in the country.
Most of the bog is designated as an SSSI. Despite this 80 per cent of the site is being worked [26]. Peat has been commercially extracted from the site since 1959 and the peat workings now extend over much of its area. Even areas where there is no planning permission to dig peat are being damaged because the peat extraction has affected the hydrology of the area and the uncut bog is drying out and shrinking.
Wedholme Flow is an extensive lowland raised bog, the largest of a series of raised mires on the south Solway plain. As a result of commercial peat extraction the site has been split into three distinct portions. A central strip running east west across the site has been created by commercial peat workings and this separates two intact areas of raised bog to the north and the south. Between two and three metres of peat has been extracted and slumping and peat wastage, due to draining, has reduced the surface height by a further 1-2 metres. The intact areas support rich assemblages of a peatland vegetation which is nationally rare. A good range of breeding birds are found here, including Nightjar, Snipe, and Sparrowhawk. The site is noted for the Large heath butterfly and Large damselfly which occurs here at the northern limit of its range. The northern section of the bog is the best remaining area of the Cumbrian Solway raised bogs.
Street Heath is included in the recent publication Rothschild's Reserves which traces the history of the first proposed network of nature reserves in the UK. The following description is given: “...Street Heath was a relic of fen, reduced to a wild island of peat by drainage and peat cutting. It was noted for scarce plants and insects. Today the area of greatest value is no more than 12 ha - and even that consists partly of old peat diggings. The original Street Heath was larger, but much of it is now in the nation's flowerpots as Fison's horticultural peat”[27].
In the UK the use of peat is almost entirely related to horticulture where it is used either as a soil improver or as a growing media. Soil improvers are materials that improve the physical, chemical or biological properties of soil. They include soil conditioners, ameliorants, amendments, mulchesand planting materials. In contrast, growing media are used for plants which are grown in containers such as tubs and window boxes. In contrast to other European countries, peat is not extracted commercially on any scale for use as a fuel.
Approximately 2.55 million cubic metres per year of horticultural peat are used in the UK, of which 87 per cent is used as growing media and 13 per cent as a soil improver [28]. Market demand for peat by the year 2000 is predicted to be in the order of 2.6 million m3 to 2.7 million m3.
Two main markets exist, amateur gardeners and the professional horticultural industry, accounting for 58 per cent and 39 per cent of total usage respectively. The remaining three per cent is accounted for by the private landscaping sector and local authority sectors. About 60 per cent of this peat comes from production within the UK, mainly from sites in England, and the remaining 40 per cent from imports, principally from Eire, with the remainder from Germany, the Netherlands (as re-exported peat), the former Soviet Union and Finland. The UK is the largest export market for Irish peat.
Commercial peat companies are represented by the Peat Producers Association (PPA). In 1991 it was reported that the members of the PPA produced at least 3.4 million m3 of horticultural peat each year [29]. About 1.8 million m3 were produced from peatlands in the UK and a further 1.6 million m3 from peatlands in Ireland. There is no longer any commercial peat extraction in Wales.
Prior to the 1960s gardeners depended on soil conditioners from a whole range of sources other than peat. Aggressive marketing convinced the gardening and landscaping world that peat was a necessity for successful horticulture. For some years now, though, this view has been challenged, summed up by the late Geoff Hamilton:.
“I think that gardeners buy peat because of brain conditioning rather than soil conditioning [30].”
The use of peat in horticulture is unnecessary and could be substituted by alternatives. A number of publications have reviewed peat alternatives in detail and these sources are drawn on here [31,32,33,34]. In brief, the selection of alternatives depends on the purpose to which they are put, as soil improver or growing media.
The greatest use of alternatives is as a soil improver with alternatives accounting for over 70 per cent of the total of materials used as soil improvers [35]. Soil improvers are used to alter the structure, water-holding capacity, nutrient contentor acidity of soil. Prior to the widespread availability of peat, gardeners and landscapers used a range of materials as soil improvers. Any bulky organic material can be used to improve the organic content of soil. Garden compost and leafmould are among the best materials for enriching soil but bark products and manure, available from garden centres, can also be used. Low in nutrients and quite difficult to work into the soil, peat does not make a good soil improver.
Mulches are layered on to the soil surface to suppress weeds, conserve moisture, improve its visual appearance and minimise erosion. Peat-free mulches include bark products and cocoa shells. Peat is a poor mulch as it tends to dry out and blow away.
Peat-free mulches include:
Peat has frequently been used to increase the acidity of soils but pine needles and composted heather or bracken provide good alternatives for this application.
In the past, peat was used as a fill in planting pits for bare- rooted trees and shrubs. This practice is now rare as it has been shown experimentally that it is better to improve the soil of the planting area thoroughly, in advance of tree planting, rather than use a fill.
The 1992 report to the Commission of Inquiry into Peat and Peatlands concluded that “.peat should never have been used on a large scale in the soil amelioration market [36].
A successful growing media must be able to hold water well without waterlogging, be chemically and structurally stable, uncontaminated and easy and pleasant to handle. The most popular alternative to peat as a growing media is coir which comes as a fibre (tough, fibrous, pithy material removed from coconut husks) and a dust which is created during the fibre stripping process. Coir is a by-product of the coconut industry and is imported mainly from Sri Lanka, India and the Philippines. It has been shown to be a successful growth medium for bedding plants, germinating seeds and for propagation of cuttings.
A switch to alternatives will not only reduce peat use but should help to reduce the volume of waste going to landfill bydiverting wood waste and organic kitchen waste from the municipal waste stream.
However, the uptake of alternatives remains slow and accounts for less than 30 per cent of all substrate used for horticulture[37]. The Government believes that it would be realistic to increase peat alternatives to 40 per cent of the total market by 2005. This is an unambitious target given that nearly 30 per cent is already being achieved. Moreover, on the basis of current weak peat policies, it is unclear that even this low target can be met.
The switch from peat to alternatives is taking place slowly partly because of a lack of information to the consumer and a resistance to new products. However, the biggest barrier is price, as peat tends to be cheaper than alternative media.
Government policy on peat is influenced by minerals policy and policies on nature conservation and biodiversity. Mineral Planning Guidance note 13, developed by the Working Group on Peat Extraction and Related Matters, outlines government policy on peat and alternative materials [38].
The Government's policy for peatlands in England is to:
As noted above the target for increasing alternatives is unambitious
and the perilous state of the active raised bog resource shows that
existing policy is failing to protect this habitat for future generations.
In 1996 the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution recommended comprehensive protection for the UK's peatlands [39]:
The Peatlands Campaign Consortium (PCC) has been campaigning over the last decade to help protect these rare and important habitats. The aim of the campaign is to ensure a future for lowland raised bogs by:
In 1992 such was the success of the campaign that it was thought that it would be possible to ensure that:
Unfortunately commercial peat extraction continues.
In November 1997 22 nature conservation organisations launched the Wildlife Charter which calls for changes in wildlife law to reflect the national importance of all SSSIs and strengthen protection for threatened species [41]. The Charter is part of a campaign which is calling for, among other things, a change in the legislation regarding minerals permissions for peat extraction.
As discussed above many permissions to extract peat were not subject to environmental assessment and were given under different conditions, for example, for small scale peat cutting rather than industrial milling. Minerals permissions granted decades ago or in sensitive wildlife or landscape areas are known as 'Phase 1' permissions. It is these permissions which are a serious threat to our environment and which many local authorities would like to reassess against modern priorities.
The 1995 Environment Act required that minerals permissions were reviewed so that new conditions could be set. However, revocation of permissions still required compensation. As a result the review of conditions has done little to relieve the problem of damaging mineral extractions.
New measures are needed that allow revocation of damaging minerals permissions without huge compensation payments.
In the meantime the PCC and Thorne and Hatfield Moors Conservation Forum have identified three ways in which planning permission could be revoked at Thorne and Hatfield Moors using existing planning law [42]. Section 116 of the Planning Act 1990 provides Government with two approaches:
Thirdly, as was seen at Flanders Moss and Ballynahone Bog, existing legislation means that revocation with full compensation can be made from the government purse.
If this, one of our rarest and most threatened habitats, is to be protected from further destruction the use of peat in horticulture must be phased out and replaced by an alternatives market.
One way of boosting the use of alternatives and reducing dependency on peat is through ecological tax reform or the application of “green taxes”. A range of possible economic instruments exists which could be used to reduce peat extraction and protect peatlands [43].
Alternatives must become cost-competitive if consumers are going to make the switch from peat. The most effective way to achieve this is to tax peat at the point of sale. A`recent study suggests that a levy of just 40 pence per standard 80 litre bag of peat (or 8 per cent on the retail sales price ) would raise enough revenue in five years to stop peat extraction on all SSSIs [44].
The revenue raised from the levy would be used to fund revocation of planning permissions on sites of national and international nature conservation importance. If sufficient revenue is raised the peat levy would also be used to fund the development and promotion of alternatives and to fund the restoration of bogs damaged by past peat extraction and other activities.
A peat tax`could be introduced on its own as a Budget measure or as part of an aggregates tax. Such a tax would apply to imported peat as well as domestic production, to avoid foreign products under-cutting the UK market.
In addition public education programmes would be needed to counter the resistance seen to date in switching from peat to alternatives.
[1] Commission of Inquiry into Peat and Peatlands (1992) Commissioners' Report Conclusions and Recommendations. Plantlife, London.
[2] Tickell, O. (1997) The power of peat. Independent, 26th October, 1997.
[3] Maltby, E., Immirzi, C.P. and McLaren, D.P. (1992). Do not disturb! Peatbogs and the Greenhouse Effect, Friends of the Earth, London.
[4] Peatlands Campaign Consortium (1997) Peatlands at the crossroads, newsletter update from the Peatlands Campaign Consortium. The Wildlife Trusts, Lincoln.
[5] RSNC (1991) Losing Ground Gaining Ground. Peatlands. RSNC, Lincoln.
[6] Lindsay, R.A. & Immirzi, C.P. (1996) An inventory of lowland raised bogs in Great Britain. Scottish Natural Heritage Research, Survey and Monitoring Report, No 78.
[7] Cruickshank, M.M. and Tomlinson, R.W. (1988) The Northern Ireland Peatland Survey.
[8] Corbett, P. McM and Seymour, G.R. (1997) The Conservation of Peatland in Northern Ireland. In: Parkin, Stoneman and Ingram (1997), Conserving Peatlands, Scottish Wildlife Trust Conference pp348-356.
[9] Lindsay, R.A. & Immirzi, C.P. (1996) Op cit.
[10] Scottish Wildlife Trust (1995) The Peatlands Convention. A Conservation Strategy for Scotland's Raised Bogs: Discussion Draft. Scottish Wildlife Trust, Edinburgh.
[11] Scottish Wildlife Trust (1995) Op cit.
[12] Corbett, P. McM and Seymour, G.R. (1997) Op cit.
[13] European Communities (1992) Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. Official Journal of the European Communities, No L 206/7.
[14] Wildlife and Countryside Link (1997) The great SAC race - the way forward for the Habitats Directive in the UK. Wildlife and Countryside Link, London.
[15] RSPB personal communication.
[16] Friends of the Earth (1990) The peat debate - briefing for the House of Lords. Friends of the Earth, London.
[17] RSNC (1990) Peatlands in peril? RSNC, Lincoln.
[18] RSPB and Plantlife (1993). Out of the Mire, a future for lowland peat bogs, Sandy, Beds.
[19]Department of the Environment (1995) Mineral Planning Guidance Note 13: Guidelines for peat provision in England including the place of alternative materials.
[20] RSPB and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (1997). Deciding the future of Thorne and Hatfield Moors an English wilderness. Peatlands Campaign Consortium, Thorne & Hatfield Moors Conservation Forum. Sandy, Beds.
[21] RSPB and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (1997). Op cit.
[22] Money, R.P. and Wheeler, B.D. (1996) Prioritisation of lowland peat programme resources. English Nature Research Reports, No. 179. Environmental Consultancy, University of Sheffield, p40.
[23] The Wildlife Trusts (1995) Peat Campaign Review after five years it's not all ...Cut and Dried. The Wildlife Trusts, Lincoln.
[24] RSPB & Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (1997) Op cit.
[25] Department of the Environment, Transport and the regions, press release 487/Env, 2 December 1997.
[26] The Wildlife Trusts (1995) Op cit.
[27] Rothschild, M. And Marren, P. (1997) Rothschild's Reserves. Time and Fragile Nature. Balaban Publishers, Israel.
[28] Department of the Environment (1995) Op cit.
[29] Bather, D.M. and Miller, F.A. (1991) Peatland utilisation in the British Isles, Centre for Agricultural Strategy, Reading.
[30] Commission of Inquiry into Peat and Peatlands (1992) Op cit.
[31] Howell, G. (1991) Gardening without Peat, Friends of the Earth, London.
[32] Pryce, S. and Bradd, N. (1991) The Peat Alternatives Manual - a guide for professional horticulturalists. Friends of the Earth, London.
[33] Benington, R. and Steele, C. (1994) Growing Wiser. Case-studies on the successful use of peat-free products. The Wildlife Trusts, Lincoln.
[34] McCall, A. (1996) Plants without Peat. 1996 Report. Scottish Wildlife Trust for the Peatlands Campaign Consortium, Edinburgh.
[35] Department of the Environment (1994) Report of the Working Group on Peat Extraction and Related Matters. HMSO, London.
[36] Commission of Inquiry into Peat and Peatlands (1992) Op cit.,
p33.
[37] Department of the Environment (1995). Op cit.
[38] Department of the Environment (1995). Op cit.
[39] Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (1996) Nineteenth Report 'Sustainable Use of Soil'. HMSO, London.
[40] Barkham, J. (1992) For Peat's sake: conservation or exploitation. Science Festival 92. British Association for the Advancement of Science.
[41] Wildlife and Countryside Link (1997) Wildlife law time for reform. Wildlife and Countryside Link, London
[42]RSPB and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (1997) Op cit.
[43] Ingham, A. (1996) The use of economic instruments to protect lowland raised peatbogs. University of Southampton.
[44] RSPB press release, RSPB calls for tax on peat, 18 February 1998.
April 1998
Frances MacGuire/Jake Elster
Published on behalf of the Peatlands Campaign Consortium by Friends
of the Earth Ltd
© Friends of the Earth Ltd
Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland
26-28 Underwood Street, London N1 7JQ
Telephone (0171) 490 1555 E-mail: [email protected]
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1Area of Special Scientific
Interest (ASSI) in N. Ireland.
return to text
2Scotts Company, Ohio acquired
Levington Horticulture Ltd. on December 15, 1997. Levington bought out
Fisons who formerly owned the minerals permissions.
Contact details:
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood St.
LONDON
N1 7JQ
Tel: 020 7490 1555
Fax: 020 7490 0881
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.foe.co.uk
April 1998
Frances MacGuire/Jake Elster
Last modified: December 2001
