The government has announced its intention to extend current restrictions on heather burning further, which, according to the latest science and evidence, would have the opposite effect to the government’s desires to “protect air, water and wildlife”.
Low-intensity ‘cool burns’ in small patches that remove the heather canopy, prevent the burning of peat and moss beneath the vegetation, and act as a fire break to help prevent the spread of wildfires, whilst encouraging the growth of peat-forming sphagnum moss which filters and absorbs water. The environmental impact of wildfires is huge, as has been seen on unmanaged moorland in Britain in recent years, and was recently seen on the world stage in California. The most effective method of reducing the fuel load of heather is through controlled burns carried out by the experts – the gamekeepers.
Wildfires have an enormous effect, not just on air quality but also on moorland wildlife. The uplands are home to many of our rarest and most treasured species of bird and plant, which all benefit from the regeneration brought about by cool burn, and are placed at greater risk of local annihilation through wildfire if heather burning is overly restricted.
The claims the government make about heather burning causing peatland to emit rather than store carbon are outdated. The latest research indicates that the controlled burning of heather, when compared to mowing or no management, results in the greatest long-term carbon sequestration, and best mitigates the catastrophic emission of carbon caused by wildfire, which burn deeply into peat, unlike heather burning.
The government’s proposals would revise the definition of ‘deep peat’ from 40cm depth to 30cm. This will now be subject to consultation, which can be accessed here. If passed, the area over which controlled burns cannot be conducted without special licence would be expanded by 168% to 368,000 ha of England’s moorlands.
Our briefing note on heather burning was was used extensively by the then Minister for rural affairs in a 2024 Westminster Hall debate on heather burning. This contains details of the most recent science, including that being undertaken by researchers at the University of York who are undertaking a 20-year study to compare the impacts of different options when managing vegetation in relation to mitigating climate change, increasing water storage and quality, and increasing biodiversity. In their preliminary report at the 10-year point, they have determined that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach that land managers should use, with heather burning, mowing, and leaving vegetation unmanaged being management tools that should be available.
The Future Landscapes Forum, a group of academics and experts with specialist knowledge of the management, ecology, functioning, and fire risk associated with heather-dominated landscapes in the UK have also published a recent Position Statement in which they expressed their growing concern that the debate about managing heather moorlands, including on peatlands, is neither properly informed nor evidence-based, leading to dangerous policy decisions that ignore the positive social and ecological effects of controlled burning. These decisions disregard a large body of evidence showing that burning can support wildfire prevention, carbon capture, and improve biodiversity, there being no clear scientific consensus to support greater restrictions of controlled vegetation burning on heather moorland.
Find a copy of our briefing note here