Thursday, June 07, 2012

Bog off for peat's sake

When Kevin Cahill's book Who Owns Britain was published in 2002, 69% of the land was in the hands of 0.6% of the population. Since then the concentration has intensified: between 2005 and 2011, government statistics show, the number of landholdings in England has fallen by 10%, while the average size of holding has risen by 12%.

George Monbiot
exposes how the wealthy use their power and influence to direct countryside policy. The government quango Natural England was prosecuting the Walshaw Moor estate, owned by the retail baron Richard Bannister, for damaging a site of special scientific interest by destroying a peat bog by burning to "improve" his grouse shooting but dropped  the case and agreed that he could continue burning blanket bog: a practice that not only damages wildlife but also releases astonishing quantities of carbon dioxide as the peat ignites, allowing the estate to conduct its business activities. A policy of doing nothing that will interfere with a landowner's economic interests, however damaging they may be.

The agency published in 2009,  a document called Vital Uplands. It proposed that the monoculture of sheep pasture and grouse moor which dominates almost all of upland England – including the conservation areas – might be moderated by allowing a few trees to grow in a few places, by burning a little less and by permitting some wildlife to gain a toehold. The Chairman of Nature England, Poul Christensen, went cap in hand to the National Farmers Union (not to be confused with a trade union but a land-owners and industry association) and apologised that the study paper had "let his organisation down badly". In response to Monbiot's criticism the organisation claimed that a "a vision without followers cannot deliver" but as Monbiot argues it is an "agency which should be protecting the natural world appears to have identified and aligned itself with people damaging it."

There are 9.8 million people living in rural England (defined as settlements with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants). Of these, 140,000 are farmers, or the business partners, directors and spouses of farmers. In other words, they constitute 1.4% of the rural population (and 0.3% of the total population). Yet rural policy seems to be tailored largely to their needs. 99% of rural people, and 99.7% of the nation as a whole, are marginalised from decision-making in the countryside.

Peat bogs
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation. One of the most common components is Sphagnum moss. There are about 4 trillion cubic metres  of peat in the world covering a total of around 2% of global land area (about 3 million sq. km), containing about 8 billion terajoules of energy. Since 1850, over 96% of British lowland peat bogs have been lost. Why do bogs matter? Few people visit them. They do not harbour very many attractive wild-life species. They can be drained like the Fens and provide prioductive farm-land or forests. Yet they are unique and irreplaceable part of our natural world and biodiversity. Peat bogs were an undervalued and ill-treated “Cinderella habitat”.

Raised bogs occur in areas where they are entirely dependent on rainfall for their supply of water and are found mainly on low plains or broad valley floors. Once considered to be wastelands, raised bogs are now seen for what they are - the last surviving remnants of a habitat rich in wildlife. Scotland now holds the lion's share of active(i.e. continuing to form peat)  raised bog sites.Active raised bog in Europe is now so scarce that it is listed under the European Council directive on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. Within the Directive it is described as priority habitat for which the community has an international responsibility to conserve.

Upon drying, peat can be used as a fuel. In contrast to other European countries, peat is not extracted commercially on any scale for use as a fuel. Scotch whisky distilleries, such as those on Islay, use peat fires to dry malted barley which  gives some Scotch a distinctive smoky flavour.

Peat is important for farmers and gardeners, who mix it into soil to improve its structure and to increase acidity. Peat for garden or house plant compost has been described as a "rapidly expanding leisure market". This has raised the problem of  commercial peat extraction. The plastic-wrapped 'multi-purpose' compost in millions of British garden sheds boost the profits of peat firms and garden centres. Peat bogs have long been exploited by human beings. They have been drained and reclaimed for agriculture, planted for forestry, and dug for fuel. But in recent years commercial peat cutting has become a significant threat to the long term survival of our remaining raised bog habitat. In the UK the use of peat is almost entirely related to horticulture where it is used either as a soil improver or as a growing media. Soil improvers are materials that improve the physical, chemical or biological properties of soil. They include soil conditioners, ameliorants, amendments, mulchesand planting materials. In contrast, growing media are used for plants which are grown in containers such as tubs and window boxes. Those two main markets exist, the amateur gardeners and the professional horticultural industry, accounting for 58 per cent and 39 per cent of total usage respectively. Aggressive marketing convinced the gardening and landscaping world that peat was a necessity for successful horticulture. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) estimates that the UK now uses just under 3 million m3 of peat for horticulture every year. Most (69%) is bought by amateur gardeners from retail outlets as “multi-purpose compost” and specialist composts for plants and containers, “grow-bags” for growing tomatoes and other vegetables and, to a much lesser extent, soil improvers to improve plant health and growth. The professional horticulture sector, and in particular growers of food and ornamental plants, are also significant peat users (30%),

The use of peat in horticulture is unnecessary and could be substituted by alternatives. Any bulky organic material can be used to improve the organic content of soil. Garden compost and leafmould are among the best materials for enriching soil but bark products and manure, available from garden centres, can also be used. Low in nutrients and quite difficult to work into the soil, peat does not make a good soil improver. Peat is a poor mulch as it tends to dry out and blow away. Peat has frequently been used to increase the acidity of soils but pine needles and composted heather or bracken provide good alternatives for this application

 In 2009 there were 390 operational peat extraction sites in Scotland for horticulture. Since the 1960s major commercial companies have introduced intensive methods of extraction that has resulted in 'mining' of the peat rather than anything approaching sustainable 'harvesting'. Modern mechanized peat extraction is far more brutal. Sod cutting has been replaced by deep trench cutting, surface milling or sausage extrusion. These methods generally require deep drainage ditches which turn the bog surface into a bare desert and all but around half a metre of the peat is taken. The peat extraction industry has left a legacy of damaged peatlands in Scotland with a huge cost to society in terms of the carbon emissions and loss of wildlife.

See our companion blog Socialist Courier post The Killing Fields, Something to Grouse About about the shooting estates in Scotland

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