Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to protect peatlands.

The Government recognises the importance of England’s peatlands and committed in our manifesto to expanding nature-rich habitats including bogs. We have ambitions to restore hundreds of thousands of hectares of peatland across the country.

Defra is currently seeking views on proposed changes to The Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) Regulations 2021, which would provide protection to a broader area of upland peat. A public consultation was launched on 31 March and will close on 25 May, the results of which will be used to inform future policy in this area.

We are also looking at next steps regarding measures to ban horticultural peat and will continue to work alongside the horticultural sector to accelerate progress on the peat free transition.