I HAVE written before about the importance of peat, in 2008, and 2011, and it’s now time to have another go at stressing the importance of leaving it where it grows.

Recent visits to three different supermarkets showed me that large bags of it are still in the wrong place and it’s time that thoughtful gardeners refused to buy compost that contains any peat at all. One bag even boasts that three quarters of it is peat.

It might enhance kitchen gardens, or improve the flower beds, but its contribution in its natural setting, on the hills, or in very poorly drained lowlands, is of far greater significance. The aim must be peat free gardening.

Wet peat vegetation is the most efficient carbon sink on the planet, and while it only covers three per cent of the world land surface it contains over a third of the world’s soil carbon and one tenth of natural water supplies.

It only began to form at the end of the Ice Age, about 12,000 years ago, and at under a millimetre of growth annually it takes a long time to accumulate, and so can’t easily be replaced.

Once dried, either by draining the moors, or removing it for sale, it gives off more carbon dioxide than coal or natural gas and provides around seven per cent of the CO2 entering the atmosphere.

In Finland, and Ireland in the past, its drying to use as a fuel to generate electricity produces as much extra CO2 as all the passenger cars on the road, and the sooner it’s replaced by renewable energy the better.

The good news is the progress in restoration of peat uplands that have been drained. Gully blocking and more planting are all part of a large investment in our national park uplands, with the Peak District leading the way.