By Emily Willox
Valued for their unique biodiversity and the vital ecosystem services they provide, Peatlands are rare, carbon-rich wetlands that have accumulated large amounts of peat and are home to key flora and fauna. They provide a natural habitat to an array of birds, mammals, insects and plants, and have even been referred to as the ‘rainforests of the UK’ due to the variety of biodiversity they support.
These biodiverse habitats provide hydrological benefits and ecological services to our environment, including flood regulation and water filtration, alongside their net cooling abilities and mass carbon sequestration.
Making up around a fifth of Scotland’s total land area, Peatlands have been recorded to store 25 times more carbon than all the vegetation of the UK. However, despite the diverse benefits that derive from these brilliant bogs, they currently face a series of challenges to their health and survival, as a direct impact of human activity.
Why Peatlands Matter for Nature and Climate
Peat is an organic surface layer of a soil made up of partially decomposed organic matter. It forms from plant material that has been accumulated through oxygen and nutrient deficient, highly acidic, waterlogged environments.
Peatlands provide important nesting and feeding grounds for surrounding biodiversity and the decrease in their ability to perform ecosystem services directly influences climate change. Peatland restoration provides a nature-based solution which addresses both while protecting habitats and acting as a carbon sink.
For peat to be healthy and function, it must remain wet, but with most food and fibre crops requiring dry conditions, the peat extracted must be completely dried out prior to commercial use. Peatlands are being drained to make way for farming, forestry and for use as fuel or compost.
Peat has historically been used in compost since the 1960s, popular in horticulture for its inexpensive, unique and reliable ability to retain moisture and nutrients; however, the issue lies in its extraction. Once damaged, peatlands can no longer perform their vital functions. Meaning any carbon reserves that had been stored by peat and usually remain trapped underwater are unlocked once exposed to air and thus emitted into the atmosphere, further exacerbating our battle against climate change. Putting aside the environmental impacts caused from its extraction alone, the transportation of peat causes a huge carbon footprint, further contributing to the wider carbon impact of the industry.
Around 80% of UK Peatland is affected from draining peatland soil, pertinent to Scottish wildlife habitats housing an array of species, many of which are rare or declining and priorities for conservation action. One key and understudied insect peatland extraction that is heavily affected is the Scottish Large Heath Butterfly.
Scotland’s Large Heath (Coenonympha tullia)– sometimes dubbed ‘Bog Nymph’ – resides in soggy and damp peatland bogs. This rare butterfly is currently on the IUCN UK Red List, facing threats of habitat loss consequential of over-exploitation for agriculture, forestry improvements. In 2014, it was recorded that their range had decreased since they were first recorded in 1976, all due to peatland degradation.
One of the most important peat-forming organisms – the Sphagnum moss – can be found in low-nutrient peatlands and is crucial for the creation and restoration of peatlands. Countering flash flooding and acting as a large sponge during periods of heavy rainfall, Sphagnum moss is able to hold 16-26 times its dry weight in water. Now used in peatland restoration, this organism can be sustainably grown, with its cultivation even providing wider ecosystem services that further benefit crops. Without this keystone species engineering the formation of peatlands, at the drastic rate of degradation our Scottish peatlands are put at an even greater risk.
A Better Way to Garden
Worldwide, peatlands amount to around 3-4% of the Earth’s land surface. If we continue extracting peat for commercial use, its degradation will inflict detrimental impacts on both habitat and biodiversity loss, damaging one of the earth’s most effective nature-based solutions while further damaging the systems carrying out essential ecosystem services for our survival. There is a solution – and it’s an easy one. Peat-free products.
Granted, this may seem like an obvious solution – however, despite public outcry demanding peat be banned in horticulture retail, intervention remains a slow moving.
The UK Government announced in 2022 that the sale of peat in horticulture within the UK would be banned by 2024, in 2026 we remain in the phase-out stage, with implementation still expected to be ratified years down the line in 2030. It’s been recorded that 66% of the total peat consumed in the UK is from amateur gardeners. With peat-based products being sold as multi-purpose compost or growing bags, it may be difficult to identify which bags to stay away from.
Gardening experts and horticulture institutions have all recognised the technical viability of peat-free products – our peat-free compost is a simple choice with a lasting impact.
Peat-Free Gardening with Caledonian Horticulture
At Caledonian Horticulture, it is our pledge that each of our peat-free compost bags contribute in uplifting our environment and the biodiversity that inhabits it. Change requires collective action to guide people towards a brighter, more sustainable and peat-free future in gardening. Supporting companies that put sustainability at the forefront without compromising their local surroundings is a powerful way to show your support to ending the use of peat within the horticulture industry.
Sharing and educating people on the detrimental effects of peat extraction and its commercial usage can be tricky. There’s lots of information out there, and we understand that it can be overwhelming.
This is why we are going one step further on our journey in raising awareness around removing peat in compost. Our team at Caledonian Horticulture are currently in the process of producing a documentary on the impact of peatlands and the ramifications of its extraction to further explore why it is so ecologically beneficial. We hope that with this, we can provide a space to learn more about the reasoning behind our products, as well as provide an accessible platform for our audience to gain further insight into this issue.
There’s more to come (and much more to be done), but for now let’s start with prioritising our Scottish peatlands – for us, our wildlife and our environment.
Follow along on our journey:
