There are more than 270,000,000 acres, 25% of the world's supply, of which our industry harvests on less than 40,000 acres, or one acre in 6,000.

Peat is renewable and in terms of its accumulation, peat in Canada is growing more than 70 times as fast as it is being harvested. (According to an issue paper entitled "Canadian Peat Harvesting and the Environment," published by the North American Wetlands Conservation Council (Canada).

As well, we know that under the right circumstances, sphagnum moss will re-establish itself on a harvested bog. Soon thereafter, from this collection of mosses peat will accumulate, re-establishing a layer of peat that will continue to grow.

Because a single bog can be harvested for between 15 and 50 years before they are left for restoration, harvesting has been completed on less than 3,000 acres. There are good examples of harvested bogs in Canada where more than one foot of sphagnum moss has re-grown, unaided, during the 10 to 15 years since harvesting has ceased. These bogs look like and provide the functions of virgin bogs.

Even though Canada does not have peat supply concerns, the industry is looking for ways to accelerate peat bog regeneration. Until recently, peat bogs have been left to regenerate, a process that can take up to 20 years. New research in ways to restore bogs quickly, indicates that time can be shortened to five to eight years.

The research projects, in which the industry has invested $51 million, include transplanting sphagnum plants, seeding spores of sphagnum taken from live plants, and covering the harvested bog with the top spit from a living bog. This research is complete now and the results are excellent. From the technologies developed through the research, the research team, in cooperation with our Association and Laval University, have produced a restoration instruction manual entitled Peatland Restoration Guide.

It will take years to replace all the peat that was removed, but even while it is growing, what we will have is a peatland that resumes the most important functions of a bog:

Filtering water Acting as a water collection basin. Accumulating carbon. Providing habitat for flora and fauna.

• Identifying bogs for preservation
  
• Using careful harvesting techniques so that restoration can be readily achieved
• Leaving buffer zone on original vegetation to encourage natural succession after harvesting
• Leaving a layer of undisturbed peat at the bottom of the bog; and
• Returning of harvested bogs to functioning wetlands, or if that's not possible, to other wildlife habitats

There should be no concern with continuing to use peat moss as the base of growing media in North America. The resource is huge, the amount of extraction small by comparison and the industry and government are committed to sustainable development.

The Following is the Issues Paper Entitled "Canadian Peat Moss and the Environment". This Issues Paper is a comprehensive look into the harvesting issues of the industry.

Published by the North American Wetlands conservation Council, (Canada)

For generations, Canadians have used peat or peat moss for a variety of domestic applications. In the last fifty years in Canada the peat harvesting industry has emerged as a significant rural employer and user of peatland resources.

Peat, mainly derived from sphagnum moss but also from reed and other sedge deposits across the nation is marketed among many uses as a soil supplement to enhance gardening and as a soil base for greenhouse production. It is one of nature's truly green products. Peat in various sizes of compressed packages and bales has become a readily available product at our local hardware and garden centres. What would spring gardening be like without a few bales of peat moss to dig into your flowerbeds or to plant with some new shrubs or roses? However, consumers of peat moss want to know whether this important soil additive is being harvested and applied in ways that protect the overall resource and the environment.




In 1990, 749,000 metric tonnes, or about 20,000,000 bales of peat were sold by Canadian producers. This volume of peat harvested each year is small in comparison to the estimated 50 million tonnes or more of peat that accumulate naturally each year in Canada. On a volume basis, there are an estimated three trillion cubic metres of peat deposits in Canada. This indicates that far more peat accumulated naturally in the Canadian environment each year than is harvested. The total value of this market now exceeds $l00 million annually. Our peat, regarded as among the best quality peat in the world, is sold to markets in the United States and Japan as well as across Canada. However, Canada has only a very small share of the world market accounting for less than one percent of global peat moss used.

The need to protect natural resources and to ensure wise, sustainable use of the environment is greater today than perhaps at any point in our history. Like other natural resource sectors, the harvesting of peat moss around the world has attracted the interest of concerned environmental groups in government and the public.

In early 1991, the Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association (CSPMA), the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources and Energy, and the Secretariat to the North American Wetlands Conservation Council (Canada), representing the combined interests of industry, government and researchers, initiated the production of this report. It focuses on the status of peat moss harvesting and environmental issues concerning the use of peat and peat moss.

At present, less than 16,000 ha of Canada's 111 million ha of peatland are being used for peat or peat moss harvesting. The majority of companies involved in this industry, through their association the CSPMA, have articulated a policy for environmentally-sensitive peatland use and for site restoration or reclamation after use. The industry, in association with government and non-government interests, environmental groups, and universities is developing a national peatland research strategy to promote awareness of peatland restoration technology and information. On-going research indicates that new and many existing sites will revert to functioning peatlands with proper site management during and after use. Other older sites can also be reclaimed to valued agricultural forestry, or wildlife habitat uses.

It is very evident that Canadian peat moss harvesting is not contributing to a decline in peatland functions or values on a national or global scale. There is room for further growth of the industry in a cooperative, consultative manner with regulators and environmental interests to ensure a balance between the needs of the environment and sustainable development.