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BergerFAQ |
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| Peat moss harvesting |  | | | | | | | | |
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| Q. : In North America, how is peat moss harvested? |
| First of all, the peat moss is harrowed to help it dry. The dry peat is then collected using large specialized vacuums. Over the course of one season, a layer between 5 and 12 centimetres thick (2 to 5 inches) of peat moss is harvested. When the harvesting operations are finished, a layer of peat moss is left on top to help the bogs recover. |
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| Q. : What is the difference between harvesting peat moss and extracting minerals from mines? |
| They cannot be compared. Minerals do not regenerate themselves; peat moss does. A peat moss bog in the process of being harvested can be restored or transformed into wetlands, forests or agricultural use such as for cranberry production. A report by the North American Wetlands Conservation Council revealed that bogs could completely restore themselves in a period of five to twenty years after harvesting. |
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| Q. : Harvesting peat moss is similar to clear-cutting forests. What is the difference? |
| Here again, the two cannot be compared. Harvesting peat moss is similar to agriculture. The soil is barely affected and when the harvesting is finished, the peat moss bogs return, on their own, to their previous state as a fully functioning bog within a five- to twenty-year period. |
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| Q. : Does peat moss harvesting contribute to the greenhouse effect? |
| A lot less than bogs do naturally. According to recent studies conducted by E. Gorham, the evaporation of carbon arising from drained peat moss bogs has a negligible effect on global warming. The amount of carbon that forms on natural bogs is greater than that which is given off during harvesting. |
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