P-06-1190 Ban the use of peat in horticulture and all growing media by 2023

Petitions4

This petition was submitted Jake Rayson, having collected a total of 1,014 signatures.

Text of Petition:                    

Peat bogs and moors are extremely important in the fight against the climate emergency; sequestering carbon better than many natural landscapes, reducing flooding and providing biodiversity. We need to ban the use of peat in horticulture and all growing media by 2023, including imports.

Additional Information:

Peat currently makes up 40% of growing media used by the public, and over 60% of that used in the professional sector. There are other materials such as coir, composted wood and leaf mould which can be used. Peatlands should not be mined but protected and restored.

The Senedd should protect and restore all Welsh peat bogs and moors and crucially ensure that all growing media sold and used in Wales is peat free.

• 3 million cubic metres of peat sold for horticultural use annually in UK, ⅓ from UK peatlands (IUCN http://bit.ly/peat-extraction-horticulture)

• 20 million tonnes carbon dioxide lost to atmosphere annually from UK’s damaged peatlands (IUCN http://bit.ly/peat-climate)

• Peatland destruction releasing vast amounts of CO2 (New Scientist http://bit.ly/peatland-destruction)

• Peatlands support many important species & unique ecosystems (IUCN http://bit.ly/peat-species)

Status

This petition was considered completed by the Petitions Committee at its meeting on 27/03/2023.

The Committee considered the petition and in light of the fact that there has been commitment from both the UK and Welsh Governments to ban the sale of peat compost, the Committee agreed to close the petitions and congratulate the petitioner on a successful campaign and outcome.

Full details of the consideration of this petition by the Committee and related documents can be seen on the Meetings tab above.

It was first considered by the Petitions Committee on 04/10/2021

Senedd Constituency and Region

• Ceredigion
• Mid and West Wales

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