BRSSEL (dpa-AFX) – Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem zdemir wants to work at EU level for better protection of the moors, which are important for the climate, by using significantly less peat in potting soil. “Planting with peat is like heating with coal,” said the Green politician of the German Press Agency. At a meeting of EU agriculture ministers in Brussels on Tuesday, he will present an initiative to gradually reduce peat use.
“If moors are drained for peat extraction, climate-damaging CO2 is blown into the air,” said zdemir. Joint action should therefore be taken at EU level to find climate-friendly alternatives and to get away from peat.
As the ministry also announced, peatlands bind more than twice as much carbon as all the forests on earth, even though they only make up three percent of the land area. “Moore are the superheroes in the fight against the climate catastrophe,” said zdemir. The aim of his ministry for Germany is that by 2026 no more peat should be used in hobby cultivation – for economic purposes it should be “largely” avoided by 2030.
What is special about peat is that it grows extremely slowly – according to the Federal Information Center for Agriculture, on average one millimeter per year. A brochure published in 2020 states that raised bog peat is the most important raw material for growing media such as potting soil. Alternatives could be compost, wood fiber, coconut fiber or bark humus. However, these are associated with higher costs and risks, so that customers have to pay more for peat-free indoor plants, balcony flowers or vegetable seedlings./mjm/DP/jha