Wales joins England on the route to peat-free
The Government in Wales is to join England in outlawing peat in bagged compost sold to amateur gardeners, after a consultation returned 90 per cent in favour of a ban. The Senedd will now work with the UK Government to implement a ban ‘as soon as is practically possible’.
But there are no signs yet of a ban in Northern Ireland or Scotland, the UK’s two main peat-harvesting nations. In Northern Ireland, a draft Peatland Strategy has stalled in the absence of a devolved government. And in Scotland, where 60 per cent of the UK’s peat is extracted, the Government has invested £250 million to restore degraded peatlands – but a ban is some time off. “We’ve made a commitment to phase out the use of peat for horticulture and will soon consult on a ban on the sale of peat for this purpose,” says a spokesperson.
Mairi Rattray, outgoing head gardener at BBC Scotland’s , says gardeners in Scotland are
