Susie Holmes finds out if peat monitoring in the UK is helping the Government meet its targets. The UK Government is committed to reducing peat use in horticultural products under its Biodiversity Action Programme (BAP). DEFRA wants 40 per cent of thetotal market requirements for soil improvers and growing media to be supplied by non-peat materials by 2005, rising to 90 per cent by 2010. Independent monitoring of the use of peat and peat alternatives is carried out regularly to assist government andthe horticulture industry in developing strategies to achieve these targets. The latest survey collected data on the use of materials by amateur gardeners, professional growers, local authorities and landscapers for 2005. This will be repeated for the 2007, 2009 and 2010 figures.
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