Under the deal [1], Scotts will receive £17 million in compensation from the Government to:

immediately hand over Thorne Moor Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in South Yorkshire and Wedholme Flow SSSI in Cumbria to English Nature (EN), the Government’s wildlife watchdog.
immediately give EN half of Hatfield Moor SSSI (in S Yorkshire). Limited peat-cutting will continue on the rest for a further two years before also being handed over to the nation.
The deal, which will secure over 1,500 hectares of peat moor as National Nature Reserves, follows a long-running campaign by Friends of the Earth and the Peatlands Campaign Consortium. Friends of the Earth has recently and successfully switched its campaign focus to retail outlets. As a result Homebase, Focus and Wyevale Country Gardens have all agreed to follow B&Q’s lead and phase-out peat-based products [2].

The deal has the potential to be a real ‘win, win’ situation for both wildlife and jobs. If Scotts moves towards a massive expansion of the production of peat alternatives, it can protect existing jobs and provide green employment opportunities for many years to come.

Craig Bennett, habitats campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:

“Congratulations to the Government for finally securing a safe future for these internationally important wildlife sites. This is a fantastic day, and marks a successful conclusion to twelve years campaigning to save these bogs.

It is disappointing that despite insisting on such a high compensation package, Scotts intends to continue extracting peat for a further two years. However, the tide has turned, and commercial peat-extraction in the UK will soon be virtually ended.

Today’s announcement is a tremendous victory for campaigners who have worked hard for conservation and common sense to come before corporate profits, and consumers who have made it clear that they won’t buy peat. But we must now stop these companies from trashing wildlife sites overseas. Gardeners must continue to say no to peat imports and only buy products labelled ‘peat free’”

Friends of the Earth also welcomed Scotts’ assertion that the deal “marks a transition towards new, effective and sustainable growing media”, and called on the company to end all its peat-cutting activities. The deal will now focus attention on rival peat company Sinclairs, who look set to challenge the UK Government in the courts over its plans to designate Bolton Fell SSSI in Cumbria - one of the few sites in the UK where peat-extraction is continuing - as a Special Areas of Conservation.

Notes
[1] All three sites are due to be designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) under the European Habitats Directive. The scale of the compensation is high because Scotts put a high commercial valuation on relinquishing its legal right to extract peat.

[2] A number of companies that have recently started selling peat-based products have yet to agree to phase-out these products. These include Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Safeway and ASDA.