Undisturbed peat is a record of geological and climatic changes in the environment. More importantly, peat enhances the functions of wetlands. It absorbs and stores water exactly like a sponge. It is an excellent filter, known to remove a large percentage of pollutants from water. Where peatlands occur downstream of mines and industries on the Highveld, they have become important factors in natural water purification.
Peat extraction is highly destructive.
It affects local hydrology, reduces biodiversity and has a severe impact on the peatland's functions. In South Africa most peat extraction occurs in the Highveld, where water resources are particularly valuable. Essentially, these priceless habitats are destroyed for pizza-toppings and gardens in affluent suburbs. Piet-Louis Grundling, of the Council for Geoscience, points out that the peat is not renewable. Depending on conditions such as rainfall and vegetation, peat forms at a rate of between 0,7mm and 1,2mm a year.