Archived press release

Bank holiday gardeners urged to boycott peat: Peat industry destroying top British wildlife sites.

30 April 1999

Peatbogs are some of the UK's best wildlife habitats, home to many rare insects and plants. Despite this the commercial peat industry, led by companies such as Levington's(owned by US company Scott's), are destroying them to provide peat, mainly for gardeners. Some of the nation's top wildlife sites (Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) are currently threatened by peat extraction. One such site, Thorne Moor, in Yorkshire, is home to over 3000 species of invertebrate.

Friends of the Earth is calling on gardeners to:
. avoid buying peat or peat-based products and to use peat free alternatives instead;
. ask their MP to support Friends of the Earth's campaign to stop peat extraction on SSSIs and ensure better legal protection for our finest wildlife sites.

Craig Bennett, Wildlife Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said:
"Most gardeners care passionately about the environment and I'm sure that if they saw the damage that the peat industry inflicts on our precious wildlife-rich peatbogs, they would gladly use peat alternatives instead. This unnecessary destruction has been allowed to continue for far too long.It's about time that US companies such as Scotts, which owns Levingtons, were told to bog off and stop destroying the UK's top wildlife sites."

Only 6 per cent of lowland raised bogs remain in a near-natural condition. Sites currently under threat include Wedholme Flow and Bolton Fell SSSIs in Cumbria, Thorne Moors SSSI, and Hatfield Moors SSSI (both in Yorkshire) where commercial peat companies such as Levingtons are stripping the peat to put into bags for gardeners.

Some Peat facts...

. Raised bogs are formed by the slow decay of plants such as sphagnum mosses over thousands of years, trapping water on flat lowland areas to form quivering domes of water-logged peatland, rich in wildlife.

. They are amongst the most important wildlife sites in the UK, and have been described by Prince Charles at the UK's "tropical rainforests" because of the wide-range of species they support. Over 3000 species of invertebrates, such as the hairy canary fly, as well as wild birds like the nightjar, and plants such as the carnivorous round-leaved sundew have been recorded at Thorne Moor alone.
. Large scale peat extraction causes irreparable damage to raised bog SSSIs through the removal of surface vegetation, the drying and removal of the peat itself, and drastic changes to the hydrological integrity of the wetland.
. Only 6 per cent of lowland raised bogs remain in a near natural condition.
. Companies such as Scotts are legally exploiting the UK's last remaining peatlands by utilising old permissions to extract the peat. Under existing wildlife laws,extraction licences can only be revoked by the taxpayer paying huge sums in compensation.

Alternatives to peat...
Prior to the 1960s, gardeners depended on soil conditioners from a whole range of sources other than peat. Aggressive marketing by the peat producers convinced gardeners that peat was necessary for horticulture, even though many expert gardeners have challenged this view. The late Geoff Hamilton commented:

"I think gardeners buy peat because of brain conditioning rather than soil-conditioning"

Peat Free Growing Media
There is now a wide range of quality peat free composts available from garden centres in small, medium or bulk bags. Many products contain a mixture of timber residues,composted wood fibres, and mineral clays to ensure a correct balance between nutrients and structural stability. Another popular alternative to peat as a growing medium is coir (a tough, fibrous, pithy material removed from coconut husks).

Soil Conditioners and Mulches
Mulches are layered on the soil surface to suppress weeds and conserve moisture and minimise erosion. Bark products, cocoa shells, animal manure, leafmould, shredded prunings, composted garden waste, hay and straw make excellent mulches. Peat is a poor mulch since it tends to dry out and blow away.

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust