Irish raised bogs are rich in Sphagnum mosses, the bog building plants. With time these are laid down in the accumulating bog as moss peat soil which can be up to 6m deep. There are up to 50 companies mining moss peat from raised bogs in Ireland with little regard for the environmental damage including loss of habitat and release of green house gases. The material is sold as compost in garden centres and exported world wide to professional horticulturalists.
* Home composting using organic kitchen and garden waste provides an ideal soil conditioner and potting medium - there is no need to use moss peat.
* Home composting stops organic waste from going to landfill and the cost associated with its disposal.
* There are many alternatives available to moss peat in gardening and professional horticulture such as coir, bark, shredded wood fibre, green waste, leaf mould, worm compost, brewers barley compost, bracken compost and farmyard manure - once again no need to use moss peat.
* Over 60ha of new raised bog habitat have been damaged by drainage for moss peat products since 2014 that the Irish Peatland Conservation Council are aware of and there are numerous sites in production for many years.
* The National Peatland Strategy of Ireland called for a review of the use of moss peat in gardening products in 2015 but no action has been taken to date.
Sign this petition to help IPCC give weight to our call to ban the use of moss peat in gardening products and to protect Sphagnum mosses and raised bog habitats and their wildlife.
