Last year, the volume of peat exports reached 233 million euros, with 2,500 employees working in the sector during the season and approximately 20 million euros paid in taxes annually. Peat substrate is very widely used in horticulture and greenhouses, with Latvian horticulturists consuming around 300,000 cubic metres of peat per year.

LVM Zemes dzīles director Kristīne Ansone explains: “Peat is also a very important element in forest regeneration – conifer seedlings can only be grown in peat substrate, and there are simply no alternatives. For example, LVM grows 7,500 pine seedlings in one cubic metre of peat, which is enough to afforest an area of 2.5 hectares. It should be noted that peatland areas are also recultivated after peat extraction, either by restoring the bog or by planting the area with a new forest. Peat is a significant natural resource for the development of agriculture, as existing alternatives do not provide for competitive agricultural production; there are products that cannot be grown to a high quality without peat, such as mushrooms and woody plant seedlings. Therefore, if we want to grow trees, regenerate forests, and make cities greener, we cannot do without peat, because no better alternative has been devised yet.”