In the week that the IPCC has tried, once again, to wake up the world to the catastrophic impact that climate chaos could have on people and nature (see here), I was delighted that B&Q (see here) has made a decisive move towards peat-free gardening*.
This is fantastic news...
...it is good for the climate because gardeners (in the UK) are responsible for emissions of some 1.25 million tonnes of CO2 from peat use every year and...
...it is good for wildlife because peatlands are incredibly important for specialist plants, invertebrates and birds such as golden plover, greenshank, red-throated diver, dunlin and common scoter.
Bog pools on RSPB Forsinard reserve, Andy Hay, rspb-images.com
In the 1990s, the RSPB successfully campaigned with Plantlife, Friends of the Earth, National Trust and the Wildlife Trusts to end the extraction of peat from SSSIs. We also pressed government to develop targets to phase out the use of peat (to prevent us exporting the problem to the Baltic States and Ireland).
Alas, a walk round most garden centres shows that peat use continues - huge sacks of peat-based compost bags pile up ready for the great Easter holiday gardening bonanza.
B&Q's action sends a signal to the rest of the sector and shows that the Government’s targets for replacing peat are absolutely achievable. It also knocks on the head claims that wide scale peat use is essential to horticulture, and so nails any further attempts to justify peat’s use in gardening.
We need closure on this issue and we need to focus attention on restoring the UK's own peatlands (1.5-2.5 million hectares constituting 8.8-14.8% of Europe's peatland area) a large percentage of which are not in good condition (see here). Our restoration of badly degraded and eroding peatlands at Dove Stone, Greater Manchester is a good example what can be achieved. We have shown that habitat management can...
...reduce drying out and oxidation of peat (and in the longer term hopefully re-commencing carbon sequestration through accumulation of peat)
...reduce discoloration of drinking water
...benefit wildlife.
So far, 1,500 stone dam units have been installed in major erosion gullies. Each dam unit is around 750 kg in weight and has been moved by helicopter. Over 3,000 heather bales have been installed in the shallow upper reaches of gullies and around erosional peat pans. These have been effective in both raising water tables and preventing erosion, and have created more permanently damp areas which should benefit moorland invertebrates. The work has resulted in the raising of the water table over an area of about 200 ha.
A more recent, and innovative feature of the work has been attempts to re-establish Sphagnum moss. This has involved the translocation of Sphagnum clumps, and the spreading of greenhouse grown Sphagnum fragments in gel over an area of about 80 ha. These Sphagnum fragments are called 'Bead-a-Moss'. The Sphagnum clumps were sourced from both on-site and off-site donor sources, with methodologies developed in close partnership with Natural England.
This work has been funded by United Utilities, Natural England (partly through the Dark Peak Nature Improvement Area), Landfill Tax Credit Schemes (Grantscapes) and the RSPB. Volunteer work parties have been integral to all our conservation activities. Over 20,000 hours of work have been carried out by more than 50 local volunteers - an astonishing achievement.
The really good news is that re-vegetating of bare peat is going well (see photos below), and early results show numbers of breeding Golden Plovers and Dunlins increasing following the start of restoration (see graph).
The same area at Dove Stone before and after the start of re-vegetating of bare peat
Estimated numbers of pairs of breeding in 14 km2 of sample squares at Dove Stone prior to the start of restoration (2005 & 2005) & after the start of restoration (2010 onwards)
The messages from the B&Q and Dove Stone stories are simple...
...prevent harm (to the climate and to wildlife) by ending the use of peat in growing media and
...do good by restoring our degraded peatlands
If we achieve this, I can, finally, stop using bad headlines for blogs about bogs.
*B&Q has switched its bedding plant production away from peat so that its garden centres will sell around 80 million plants in the next few months whose production is between 95% to 99% peat free.
Well done to B&Q for this initiative and well done to all those involved in Dove Stone project. It really shows what can be done given the will.If other major garden centre chains would follow B&Q's example I am sure the general public would very quickly forget all about needing peat and use the peat substitutes without a second thought. It just needs a push to push some of those other garden centres to follow B&Q's example. That push can really only be provided by the Government. However I am afraid that is a forlorn hope in respect of this "Greenest Government Ever".
redkite
You are right, Glossy Ibis. What the B&Q move does however is debunk the myth that you cannot grow good plants without peat. NT have been doing this for years. We need Government to give a clearer regulatory steer (tax or ban).
I too was pleased to see B&Q's initiative on the use of peat-based composts. Unfortunately this only applies to planted items and not to the sale of peat-based compost for gardener's use. I know only too well how difficult it is to obtain good peat-free compost for garden and greenhouse use. Until Garden Centres change their policy on the sale of peat-based products there will be no incentive for manufacturers to look for alternatives.
Many years ago when the Otmoor reserve was being established, we used an excellent peat-free compost produced by the RSPB and, as I recall, Thames Water. Virtually the whole of the Otmoor reedbed was established by germinating the reed seeds in this material. It was very effective!