Posted: 30/09/2026 • 2 minutes read
New UK Government commitment to tree planting must be peat-free
We welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment today to invest £53m in tree-planting and £26m in Local Nature Recovery Strategies.
Investment in nature is critical to future-proofing our economy and our communities against the brunt of the climate crises.
But that investment must not come at a cost to our peatlands – those trees must be sourced from peat-free nurseries.
In 2011 the UK Government made a commitment that all public procurement would be peat-free by 2015. A target they have missed, along with the 2020 target to end retail sales of peat-based compost.
Trees are still being grown using peat torn from our precious peatlands, destroying nature and releasing carbon – in the name of restoring nature and tackling climate change. Legislation to ban peat sales – as promised by this Government – is urgently needed to end this destructive practice.
We ask Angela Eagle to commit that investment in tree planting and the nurseries growing them is peat-free from seed to sapling.
Peat-free trees are possible
See peat-free growing on a massive scale at Alba Trees in East Lothian.
