Peat has been the main ingredient of garden compost since the 1940s, as a way to add nutrients to the soil and to aid water retention. However, what might have been good for our plants, has had the opposite impact on the climate and local ecosystems. Peat is not a renewable resource, in fact it is a carbon sink, with peatlands being the largest natural terrestrial store of carbon. The destruction of the peatlands, through harvesting, using and burning, releases carbon into the atmosphere, which globally, accounts for 6% of the global C02 emissions.
Over 94% of the UKs lowland peat bogs have already been damaged or destroyed, along with the wildlife living in and around it.
Today, many peat-free alternatives are available, however they aren’t always in abundance or easy to find. With the Government’s ban on commercial sales of peat by 2024, many garden centres are will need to start making changes.
Wellbeing Gardens will only use peat-free compost and will prioritise nurseries that use peat-free potting medium.
Before you buy a bag of compost, even the small compost pellets or houseplant mix, double-check to see if it states it is peat-free. If a bag of compost doesn’t clearly state it is peat-free, it is likely to contain peat. Ask the garden centres and shops when they will stock [more] peat-free options.
A fun activity could be experimenting with alternatives to see what works best for the things you want to grow – things like bark chippings, wood fibre, coir (derived from coconut husks), and composted green waste. Get children involved too.
Peatlands are a type of wetlands which are among the most valuable ecosystems on Earth: they are critical for preserving global biodiversity, provide safe drinking water, minimise flood risk and help address climate change.
Peatlands are the largest natural terrestrial carbon store; the area covered by near natural peatland worldwide (>3 million km2) sequesters 0.37 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year – storing more carbon than all other vegetation types in the world combined.
Damaged peatlands are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, annually releasing almost 6% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Peatland restoration can therefore bring significant emissions reductions.
Countries are encouraged to include peatland restoration in their commitments to global international agreements, including the Paris Agreement on climate change.
IUCN – International union for conservation of nature
www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/peatlands-and-climate-change