1. Anne Miller Associate Director, ESKTN (On behalf of Keith Golding Head: Department for Sustainable Soils and Grassland Systems, RR) Delivering the options for sustainable growing media

3. Peat milling, extraction and processing can result in: ■ considerable loss of C. ■ indirect gaseous losses of from the cut-over surface and adjacent uncut areas of the bog; the gaseous emissions can be up to ten times greater than in a natural bog. ■ the loss of as much as 2.9 t C as windblown peat from a 100ha site in a single harvesting season. ■ considerable loss of particulate and dissolved C in the runoff water from extraction sites. ■ Commercially exhausted peatbogs which are then afforested are likely to result in further loss of carbon, at rates which may not be compensated for by the trees.

5. ■ The UK horticultural industry consumes ~ 3 million cubic metres peat per annum. ■ 69% of this peat is consumed by the amateur market through 'multi-purpose composts' and specialist composts for plants and containers, including 'grow-bags' for vegetables. ■ The current use of peat by the UK is unsustainable. ■ 90% of UK peat bogs have been lost, along with the biodiversity they used to support. http://www.newleafpractice.co.uk/resources/sustainable-growing-media/the-uk-peat-issue.aspx

6. ■ DEFRA has calculated that if peat were harvested at a sustainable rate from UK peatlands it would only satisfy 2% of the current annual consumption. ■ In England the horticultural use of peat is about 5 times greater than the volume of peat extracted. ■ The majority of the peat used is imported from the Republic of Ireland, with significant volumes also imported from Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Baltic States.

7. The UK Government's peat reduction targets In light of the ecological importance of healthy peatlands (link) and the need to address the UK's unsustainable use of peat in horticulture the UK Government outlined its ambitions and milestones to reduce, and ultimately phase out, the horticultural use of peat in England by 2030. The plans for this are outlined in DEFRA's Natural Environment White Paper, published in June 2011.Natural Environment White Paper

8. The UK Government's peat reduction targets Impact all growing media manufacturers, growers, retailers, gardeners and the public sector: ■ progressive phase-out target of 2015 for government and the public sector on direct procurement of peat in new contracts for plants ■ voluntary phase-out target of 2020 for amateur gardeners ■ final voluntary phase-out target of 2030 for professional growers of fruit, vegetables and plants