Alan Knight has recently (8 June 2011) been appointed Chair of DEFRA’s Peat Task Force along with 12 invited representatives from retailers, growing media manufacturers, growers and environmental organisations.
The role of the Task Force will be to identify and address supply chain issues across both the amateur and professional markets and explore measures to deliver DEFRA’s ambition as far as peat is concerned and determine the criteria against which the policy will be reviewed.
The Task Force will produce a comprehensive and detailed roadmap to address barriers in relation to both the supply and demand of peat alternatives, with the aim of reforming once and for all a supply chain focussed around peat.
The exact date for the completion of the policy review has not been decided, but it will take place before the end of the current Government spending period, i.e. before March 2015.
The details are contained in ‘The Natural Choice’, the first White Paper on the natural environment in 20 years. The White Paper also acts on the recommendations of ‘Making Space for Nature’, a report into the state of England’s wildlife sites, led by Professor John Lawton and published in September 2010.
For the full DEFRA press release see http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2011/06/07/natural-environment/
