Archived press release

Labour turns back on peatland protection

10 April 1998

The UK's finest peatlands, vital wildlife havens, are still being destroyed, a new report from Friends of the Earth shows today. Meanwhile the peat market is booming. But new evidence from FOE shows that the Labour Government has U-turned on a promise made in Opposition to stop damage to important lowland peatlands, designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).

In a series of regional actions, FOE campaigners around the country will be protesting at garden centres during the Easter holiday about the damage being wreaked by the peat companies and the indifference of the Government to this major wildlife threat.

18 SSSIs are presently under threat from peat extraction. These sites are the largest and most important lowland raised bogs in the country including Wedholme Flow in Cumbria,Hatfield Moor in Yorkshire and Bolton Fell in Cumbria [2].

In a major Opposition policy statement, Labour promised: "We serve notice on the peat extraction industry that unless there is a voluntary agreement to reduce peat extraction substantially and promote alternatives, we shall introduce a strict fiscal and/or regulatory regime." [3]. It also promised green taxes including removing VAT from peat alternatives[4]. But in a recent letter to the Peatlands Campaign Consortium, a senior civil servant from the Department of Environment's European Wildlife Division blithely stated that: "with regard to the 1992 Labour policies on peat extraction, these will not necessarily read forward to the current administration." Labour gave no indication of a change in its policies on peat until it took office.

In a further letter to FOE, Environment Minister Michael Meacher claimed as a Government success the decision of official watchdog English Nature not to remove legal protection from a large part of one of the most damaged peatlands, Thorne Moor. Although the legal protection for the site remains, the Government has done nothing to stop it being destroyed.

FOE's report calls on the Government to introduce a new wildlife law to ensure that peat extraction permissions on SSSIs can be revoked, without the threat of huge compensation payments to companies now destroying the sites. It also calls for green taxes to be introduced to encourage a move from peat to the many alternatives that exist, such as composted organic waste.

Commenting, Matt Phillips, Wildlife Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:
"Labour seems to have ratted on its promise to protect our finest peatlands. The

u-turn on this issue is particularly stomach-churning as it has dropped its promise without telling the public.

There is no such thing as a sustainable source for garden peat. There are alternatives, such as composted organic waste, but we need tax changes to encourage their production and use. At present many people do not even know they are buying peat as bags are labelled 'multi-purpose compost' let alone seek out alternatives.

The law has failed to protect our peatlands, so it must be changed as well.Labour's present policy is indistinguishable from the Tories and between them they have presided over the shameful destruction of an entire wildlife habitat type."

• 18 SSSIs are under threat from the peat industry either directly through extraction of peat or by peat extraction threatening the hydrological integrity of the SSSIs (see table attached).
• 96% of lowland raised bogs have been destroyed since 1945
• Lowland raised bogs are home to species such as the hairy canary fly, sundews, sphagnum mosses, breeding birds such as nightjar and thousands more
• Alternative growing media to peat are widely available.

Taking peat from SSSIs is perfectly legal. Existing wildlife laws only allow for the revocation of peat extraction permissions through the payment of large sums in compensation.

NOTES TO EDITORS

[1] Friends of the Earth (1998). Last Chance to See.... Friends of the Earth, London. The full report is available on request. It highlights the impact of the peat industry on peatland SSSIs and the failure of present laws to protect sites. Since 1945, 96 per cent of lowland raised bogs have been destroyed.

[2] Sites other than SSSIs are also being destroyed by the peat industry.

[3] From The Labour Party and Peat Extraction, 1992.

[4] From Labour's A Budget for the Environment, 1991.

REGIONAL ACTIONS

Lowland raised bog SSSIs where planning permission for peat extraction exists on or nearby the site (companies holding the permissions included where known)

1. Source: Stirling District local authority planning department
2. Source: Scottish Borders local authority planning department
3. Source: RSPB
4. Source: Clydesdale District local authority planning department
5. Planning permission does not exist on the actual area protected as a SSSI but it does for an adjacent area. It is thought likely that adjacent works affect the hydrology of the bog.
6. Source: Northumberland County Council
7. Source: Cumbria County Council.
8. The Scotts Company recently bought out Levingtons
9. Source: Wigan Borough Council
10. Source: English Nature. Extant planning permission exists but negotations on-going between English Nature, Countryside Council for Wales and local planning authorities to change planning permission.
11. Source: Somerset County Council. This information is currently being updated and is subject to change.
12. Mineral Planning 73, p50, December 1997.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust