Moss peat producers are urged to develop and market a wider range of peat-free composts in a report released by the Irish Peatland Conservation Council (IPCC).
The council calls on the industry to make a wider range of composts, such as bark mulch, coconut fibre and compost manures available to enable the gardening public to reduce the use of peat. Moss peat is mined from raised bogs, the most threatened peatland in Ireland. And over 90 per cent of this habitat has been lost to conservation.
The 108-page Peat-free Garden Campaign report documents the progress made over the past six months in the council's campaign to persuade gardeners to "kick the peat habit". The council has been urging garden centres to sell more peat-free composts, local authorities to encourage households to make their own compost from organic waste and Government agencies to ensure that moss peat extraction on raised bogs of conservation value is halted.
Some 18 commercial peat-free garden products are now available in Ireland, ranging from soil improvers to composts and mulches, according to the report. And composting among Irish households is on the increase.
Peat could be phased out completely in State-owned Irish properties if the switch was made to coconut fibre and leaf mould - to germinate seeds and propagate cuttings.
"The IPCC is very concerned about the future of All Saint's Bog in Co Offaly, which is an EU Special Area of Conservation currently being mined for moss peat," according to the campaign co-ordinator, Ms Noreen McLoughlin.