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Delivering the options for
sustainable growing media
Anne Miller
Associate Director, ESKTN
(On behalf of Keith Golding
Head: Department for Sustainable
Soils and Grassland Systems, RR)
Peat milling, extraction and processing can result in:
■
considerable loss of C.
■
indirect gaseous losses of from the cut-over surface and
adjacent uncut areas of the bog; the gaseous emissions can be
up to ten times greater than in a natural bog.
■
the loss of as much as 2.9 t C as windblown peat from a 100ha
site in a single harvesting season.
■
considerable loss of particulate and dissolved C in the runoff
water from extraction sites.
■
Commercially exhausted peatbogs which are then afforested
are likely to result in further loss of carbon, at rates which may
not be compensated for by the trees.
■
The UK horticultural industry consumes ~ 3 million cubic
metres peat per annum.
■
69% of this peat is consumed by the amateur market
through 'multi-purpose composts' and specialist
composts for plants and containers, including 'grow-bags'
for vegetables.
■
The current use of peat by the UK is unsustainable.
■
90% of UK peat bogs have been lost, along with the
biodiversity they used to support.
http://www.newleafpractice.co.uk/resources/sustainable-growing-media/the-uk-peat-issue.aspx
■
DEFRA has calculated that if peat were harvested at a
sustainable rate from UK peatlands it would only satisfy
2% of the current annual consumption.
■
In England the horticultural use of peat is about 5 times
greater than the volume of peat extracted.
■
The majority of the peat used is imported from the
Republic of Ireland, with significant volumes also
imported from Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Baltic
States.
The UK Government's peat
reduction targets
In light of the ecological importance of
healthy peatlands (link) and the need to
address the UK's unsustainable use of peat
in horticulture the UK Government outlined
its ambitions and milestones to reduce, and
ultimately phase out, the horticultural use of
peat in England by 2030. The plans for this
are
outlined
in
DEFRA's
Natural
Environment White Paper , published in
June 2011.
The UK Government's peat
reduction targets
Impact all growing media manufacturers, growers,
retailers, gardeners and the public sector:
■ progressive phase-out target of 2015 for government
and the public sector on direct procurement of peat in
new contracts for plants
■ voluntary phase-out target of 2020 for amateur
gardeners
■ final voluntary phase-out target of 2030 for
professional growers of fruit, vegetables and plants