The sale of peat should be banned as part of a series of measures to combat climate change and curb exploitation, government advisers have said.

It has emerged that the recommendation has been made by the UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC) as the Scottish Government make plans to phase its use out for horticultural purposes.

It comes a year after campaigners and environmentalists took aim at the garden centre industry after it emerged it will miss a Government target to stop selling peat.

It has further emerged that the Scottish Government is moving towards the phasing out of the use of peat for horticultural purposes.

A new report on land use from the CCC also suggests a levy on airlines or fossil fuel companies could be introduced to help pay for a huge boost to woodland planting.

A voluntary target signed nine years ago was intended to put an end to the use of peat by 2020 due to the severe impact it has on the environment.

But it then emerged that an optional target will not be met.

Peat is a major component in compost and obtaining it from the native bogland destroys a unique habitat and releases greenhouse gases.

The most recent Department for Communities and Local Government mineral extraction analysis for 2014 reveals that 63% of all the commercially extracted peat in Great Britain comes from Scotland.

READ MORE: The race to protect Scotland's peat bogs

And the Scottish Wildlife Trust hope that the message from the CCC will be heeded by government.

The majority of Scotland's peat - 0.47m cubic metres out of 0.5m cubic metres - was for horticultural use and the rest for other uses such as animal bedding, domestic fuel, whisky production and mushroom compost.

But there remains uncertainty about the true extent of extraction in Scotland.

Scottish Natural Heritage video highlighting the  benefits from restoring peatlands

A letter seen by the Herald sent to all heads of planning at local authorities across Scotland in November highlights concerns relating to peat sites that are either classified as dormant or where no extraction has taken place for some time while confirming plans to phase out the use of peat for horticultural purposes.

"In such cases, there is potential uncertainty around the future intentions of the operator and the status of the land," said John McNairney, the Scottish Government local government and communities directorate chief planner.

In 2017, it was estimated that there were 14 sites in Scotland known to be actively extracting peat but reviews have revealed there are a number of sites with an unknown status.

"The Scottish Government resisted further legislation in this area because it believes that the existing order making powers available to planning authorities are sufficient to deal with the issue," said Mr McNairney.

READ MORE: Call for urgent action to protect and restore important peatlands

Planning authorities have powers to ban the resumption of minerals development if no development has been carried out to any substantial extent for a period of at least two years and where, on the evidence available, it appears that development is unlikely to resume.

"The intention of these orders is to establish without doubt that minerals development has ceased, to ensure that development cannot resume without a fresh grant of planning permission and to secure the restoration of the land," said Mr McNairney.

The Herald:

"The Scottish Government believe that existing prohibition order making powers provide the due process for extinguishing planning permissions and that wider use should be made of these powers in respect of peat sites where resumption of development is unlikely," he said.

"Compensation is less of an issue with prohibition orders since the value of the mineral that cannot be worked is not taken into account when calculating the amount of compensation payable."

Current Scottish planning policy only permits commercial extraction in areas suffering historic, significant damage through human activity and where the conservation value is low and restoration is impossible.

But a 2017 review of commercial peat extraction in Scotland carried out by the International Union for Conservation of Nature seen by the Herald states that the Scottish Government does not hold up-to-date information on peat extraction planning permissions.

And Mr McNairney in his letter to planner said future work in the 'phasing out' plans "would greatly benefit from a better understanding of the location and scale of existing planning permissions for peat extraction".

Sarah Robinson, director of conservation with the Scottish Wildlife Trust said: “We support the call to end peat extraction in the UK as one important step towards addressing the climate emergency and the biodiversity crisis.

“The majority of peat produced in Britain is taken from raised bogs in central Scotland for use in horticulture.

"Currently more than a dozen sites are being exploited in Scotland, many of which could still be restored to functioning, wildlife-rich bogs if action is taken quickly to begin to reverse the damage. We have already lost 94% of Scotland’s raised bog habitats in the last 200 years. Protecting and restoring those that remain should be an urgent priority.

“At the same time, we need to encourage both professional and amateur gardeners to use the peat-free products which are readily available. Ending extraction in the UK without tackling demand for peat-based compost will only lead to further damage to peatlands in other parts of Europe.”

Scottish Natural Heritage video highlighting some of the methods they have used to restore peatlands in Scotland.

The CCC calling for major and urgent changes to how land is managed to help the UK reach its legal target to cut emissions to net zero by 2050 said there should be a ban on "damaging practices rotational burning on peatland and peat extraction".

And it suggests there should be an "obligation" for water companies and on landowners in areas of sites of special scientific interest to restore peatland on land they own.

The CCC also suggests fifth of agricultural land needs to be taken out of production and freed up for natural methods of storing carbon such as more woodlands and trees, the first in-depth report on land use from the committee urges.

Encouraging people to cut the beef, lamb and dairy they eat by a fifth - which the committee said was a "modest" reduction within Government health guidelines - will help cut greenhouse gases and free up land for storing carbon.

Around 30,000 hectares or 100 million trees a year need to be planted from 2023 up to mid-century, a significant increase on today's levels of planting, which were around 13,000 hectares last year.

A system similar to the subsidies which have boosted renewable energy in recent years, with auctions for contracts for planting and guaranteed long-term payments for land managers, could deliver the required increase.

An alternative method would be a carbon trading scheme, and either policy could be paid for by greenhouse gas-emitting industries such as fossil fuel providers or airlines, the report suggests.

Public money should also go to creating and managing woodlands, planting trees and boosting hedgerows which deliver other benefits such as flood prevention and wildlife habitat.

All the changes outlined in the report would cost around £1.4 billion a year in private and public funding up to 2050, but would deliver £4 billion in annual benefits, the committee said.

Some 12% of the UK's total greenhouse gas emissions came from the way land is used in the country in 2017, but with the right support for farmers and land managers, that could be cut by almost two thirds by 2050, it said.

The report is being published as land management policies are undergoing a huge shake-up as the UK quits the EU subsidy regime and, in England, shifts towards payments for "public goods".

Lord Deben, chairman of the Committee on Climate Change, said: "Changing the way we use our land is critical to delivering the UK's net zero target.

"The options we are proposing would see farmers and land managers - the stewards of the land - delivering actions to reduce emissions.

"Doing so can provide new revenue opportunities for farmers, better air quality and improved biodiversity, and more green spaces for us all to enjoy."

But he said the changes could not be delivered in the normal course of business, and warned: "We are in a race against time, there's no doubt urgency must be the hallmark of what we are doing here."

Achieving emissions reductions should not be at the expense of producing less food in the UK and increasing imports, the report said.

Committee chief executive Chris Stark said British beef and lamb has some of the lowest rates of emissions in the world but greenhouse gases from livestock still needed to be cut.

He said it was a question of eating "a little less meat, but when you eat it, you should know you can go for high-quality produce in the UK and know it has lower greenhouse gas emissions than imports".

Measures to shift diets could include increasing plant-based options, better labelling and, if needed, subsidies and taxes to encourage lower carbon eating, the report said.

A Government spokesman said ministers would consider the report's recommendations closely, and added: "Tackling climate change and the impact on our environment is both a national and international priority, and the UK is already leading the fight against it by delivering on our world-leading target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

"That's why we're reforming farming policy to reward environmental actions, reviewing our food system to ensure it is more sustainable, taking steps to accelerate tree-planting and peatland restoration, and introducing a flagship Environment Bill to address the biggest environmental priorities of our age."