For Peat's Sake!

The English have not proved to be very successful in preserving their peatlands (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/nov/17/uk-full-peat-compost-ban-england). It has been estimated, that the UK peatlands store circa 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon, which is more than is stored in all the forests of this 'green and pleasant land'. This means that peatland have a major role to play in curtailling 'greenhouse gases' and subsequent climate change. Strangely, although the UK government is promising to plant 30,000 hectares of trees each year, in its 10-point 'green industrial revolution' plan, it makes no mention of peat bogs. There is currently a voluntary agreement that 'amateur' gardeners will not be sold peat to pot their plants (an activity that is seeing a Covid-19-associated boom). Reportedly, bags of peat remain resolutely on sale in UK garden centres. It is claimed that another voluntary agreement will result in 'commercial' gardeners getting this material by 2030. Quite apart from the distinction between 'amateur' and 'commercial' being somewhat vague (how much do you have to sell to qualify and who checks?), voluntary agreements seem toothless. I think that we need to be much tougher in our protections for peatlands if we want them to help counter climate change.