Peat sales ban recommended

[peter831shaw]

Here is a pdf of the article mentioned above,

Peter

[Acid John]

Very interesting Peter. I suspect that the researchers didn't get shredded plastic and bits of concreate in their ingredients
But it is a way forward.

[Conrad]

Arguing the pros/cons of horticultural peat is too much like work - I work professionally in peatland restoration and have worked on horticulturally/fuel extracted peat and agriculturally damaged sites.

Suffice to say that having spent a long time around peatland monitoring (generally GHG fluxes/ and full hydrology suite) the impacts of peatland damage (GHG emissions, surface water contamination, biodiversity impacts associated) are all significant to varying degrees, sometimes hugely so. Of all the sites, by far the most devastating impacts in all these areas are recorded on modern screw leveled/milled lowland raised bogs (i.e. county offaly/solway horticultural peats).

Also - the claims that fully extracted sites can be restored is laughable, following full extraction these sites are absolutely destroyed, 1000s of years of carbon accumulation and paleoecology irretrievably lost. Partially extracted sites offer some hope, but the road to restoration is very very long, and once that carbon gets up there it doesn't come down nearly as fast. We've just finished an extended period of work on an upland horticulturally/fuel extracted site, and I know for well I wont really see the results of our work in my lifetime.

For those interested in good quality alternatives try https://www.dalefootcomposts.co.uk/. Made from wool/bracken litter and good stuff. The guys who make this also professionally work in peatland restoration doing the machinery work, and the compost was a second string (the aforementioned site we've just finished work on actually had several of their specialist machines on it this winter).