A ountrywide campaign to stop the use of moss peat in gardens was launched yesterday by the Irish Peatland Conservation Council.
For 60 years, the bogs of Ireland have been mined for moss peat to produce a cheap garden product, says the IPCC. Two-thirds of the moss peat taken from raised bogs is used by amateur gardeners. "Destroying the natural habitats and wildlife of the bogs is not something gardeners want to do," said the campaign's co-ordinator, Ms Noreen McLoughlin. Moss peat is cheap, sterile, lightweight and pleasant to handle, she conceded: "And it's great for gardens - but only if we ignore the environmental harm we're doing to the raised bogs of the Irish midlands where it comes from." The campaign will target garden centres as well as gardens open to the public, county councils and the gardening public.
Garden centres will be asked to stock environmentally friendly peat-free composts which the public will be encouraged to use instead of moss peat.