Before we start sowing and planting in our containers, window boxes and hanging baskets, we will need to fill them with compost and, if our aim is to help our pollinators to flourish, according to our leading wildlife charities, that compost should be peat-free. Why is this so important?

Peatland provides a unique and thriving habitat for many bog loving plants and animals. It absorbs large quantities of rainwater, protecting nearby towns and villages from flooding. The peat is formed over thousands of years as waterlogged plants gradually decompose. Thus peat is an incredible carbon store, and the world’s peatlands hold more than twice the carbon stored in all the world’s forests.
In the UK over 3 billion litres of peat are used every year to make garden compost. The machinery employed to extract the peat can destroy hundreds of years’ worth of growth in a matter of months. Much of this peat has been stripped from other European countries so we are increasing our environmental footprint by wrecking the peatland in these places.

Butterfly Conservation states “One of the biggest threats facing certain butterflies and moths is the destruction of the peat bogs where they live”.