The sale of peat for use on private gardens and allotments will be banned in England from 2024, the Government has announced, in a bid to protect the UK’s already severely degraded moorlands. Environmental campaigners have long called for stricter laws to restore peatlands, which are the UK’s largest carbon sink.
As well as carbon capture and storage, peatlands provide habitat to some of the UK’s most threatened wildlife, and also filter water and prevent flooding downstream. But a combination of draining them for agricultural use, burning to create the right habitat for game birds and harvesting for compost, means just 13% are in a near-perfect state.
Overgrazing by both livestock and wild deer have also contributed to the problem. The Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) said on Saturday the sale of peat-based compost would be banned in garden centres and supermarkets within 18 months.
