In The Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) Regulations 2021 —

“burning season” means

(a) in relation to land which is within an upland area, the period from 1st October in one year to 15th April in the following year, both dates inclusive; and
(b) in relation to land which is not within an upland area, the period from 1st November in one year to 31st March in the following year, both dates inclusive;

“designated site” means a site that is a

(a) European site within the meaning given by regulation 8(1) of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017(2);
(b) site of special scientific interest within the meaning of section 52(1) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981(3);

“specified vegetation” means heather; rough grass; bracken; gorse; or vaccinium (a common and widespread genus of fruiting shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the heath family which includes common moorland plants like bilberry and lingonberry).

“upland area” means all the land shown coloured pink on the map marked as “Map of Upland Area in England” held by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [and freely accessible via MAGIC] but does not include the land coloured pink in the Isles of Scilly.

The so-called ‘burning season’ in both England and Scotland runs from:

• 1 October to 15 April in upland areas (severely disadvantaged areas) – you can find upland areas on MAGIC
• In England in ‘other areas’ (ie areas not in the uplands) it runs from 1 November to 31 March.
• Note that the season in Scotland can be extended to 30 April “with permission of the landowner”.

Yes (and are geared around allowing grouse shooting estates to continue moorland burning wherever possible).

According to the regulations, a person ‘must not burn specified vegetation on a designated site on peat that is a depth of more than 40cm‘, unless this is done under a licence issued by the Secretary of State, but the regulations do not apply to where specified vegetation is to be burned in one burning season in an area which:

• has a slope of more than 35 degrees; or
• where more than half or that area is covered by exposed rock or scree.

And:

• is a single area of 0.5 hectares or less; or
• is on 2 or more areas within 5 metres of each other with a combined area of 0.5 hectares or less.

Moorland burning (or muirburn) is a divisive issue.

Pro-shooting lobbyists claim that it is a traditional form of land management, that ‘controlled’ burning removes plant debris and cuts down the chance of wildlfires (which burn hotter and for longer), and burning is a ‘conservation’ tool  which not only benefits Red Grouse (by providing a mosaic of habitats that both younger and older grouse prefer) but other ground-nesting birds.

On the other hand, the government itself described upland peat bogs in a tweet as ‘England’s rainforests’ saying “they capture carbon, reduce flood risk, and are valuable habitats”; the RSPB said in December 2020 that new analysis showed that “burning of moorlands is the biggest threat to England’s most important places for wildlife [namely SSSis]”; and while postdating the regulations the IUCN said in its UK Peatland Programme Position Statement: Burning and Peatlands V.4 April 2023, “The overwhelming scientific evidence base points to burning on peatlands causing damage to key peatland species, peatland ecosystem health, and the sustainability of peatland soil”.

When unveiling the new regulations, the government said that it had reached consensus that grouse moor burning damages important peatland ecosystems and prevents them from being restored.

While obviously referring to the temperature of the burn itself, these two terms more importantly refer to the temperature reached below the soil surface and the potential for damage. A ‘cool burn’ is not supposed to damage underlying peat, whereas a ‘hot burn’ may ignite it.

In a ‘cool burn’ the fire passes quickly over the ground, burning above-ground vegetation but having little impact on the humus or litter layer that sits on top of the peat or on the sphagnum moss growing on the surface. The temperature at ground level remains low and there is little or no rise in temperature below the surface.

In a ‘hot burn’ the fire is slower moving so can cause more damage. ‘Hot burns’ are more likely when there is a large amount of dry plants to catch fire or the weather is hot and dry. ‘Hot burns’ deliver more heat to the ground for longer, igniting more plant material, and can result in damage to or ignition of the underlying peat. When that happens temperatures increase further and it becomes more difficult to control the fire.

Blanket bog, the deepest of peatland sites, is crucial in the UK’s fight against climate change, storing as much carbon as all the forests in the UK, Germany and France combined. Many of the concerns around the effects of heather burning focus on the impacts on blanket bog and its ability to store water and carbon.

Blanket bog is produced in areas with high rainfall and low temperatures, usually at high altitude on shallow gradients, with ground that is waterlogged for most of the year. Blanket bog is one of Scotland’s most common semi-natural habitats, covering some 1.8 million hectares – 23% of the land area – and the country holds a significant amount of the European and world total.

In England, blanket bog is defined by a minimum peat depth of 40cm, in Scotland this cut-off is 50cm.

Cosidering how serious the climate crisis is and the poor condition of so many blanket bogs the penalties are not significant. As a high-profile case in May 2023 proved, even when convicted the fines are paltry and hardly a disincentive for an industry that routinely charges multiple clients many thousands of pounds each to shoot Red Grouse.

The government says that anyone not following the rules can be:

• sent a warning letter
• given a caution
• given an injunction
• given a ‘burning notice’* requiring you to notify Natural England of any proposed burning of permitted vegetation for up to 2 years
• prosecuted.

*An appeal against a burning notice must be made within 28 days.

Pro-shooting lobbyists claim there is little evidence that estates are burning moorland illegally, but from 1 October 2021 until 15 April 2022 (the first burning season since the legislation was introduced) the RSPB found evidence of 79 fires that it believes were in breach of the law, while Greenpeace identified 51 such fires out of a total of 251 incidents.

In a ‘ground breaking case’ in May 2023 Dunlin Ltd was fined for illegally burning Midhope Moors. Dunlin was proved to have applied for a licence, been refused, then burnt anyway (an entitled arrogance that for many has made the grouse shooting industry synonymous with crime).

Government advice (which was updated in 2021) says:

When burning you must:

• start burning between sunrise and sunset
• have enough people and equipment to control the burn
• take all reasonable precautions to prevent injuring people
• take all reasonable precautions to prevent damage to the surrounding land and anything on it

When burning you must not:

• cause injury, interruption or danger to road users
• create smoke likely to damage health or cause a nuisance
• disturb or destroy wild birds and their nests, or other protected animals, plants and habitats
• damage important monuments
• pollute watercourses and groundwater, for example, through soil erosion caused by burning

Applicants must apply:

• 28 to 56 days before the burn if burning outside the burning season
• at least 28 days before the burn and after the previous burning season, if burning in the burning season

The moorlands of the Peak District National Park are of global environmental importance, made up of a variety of different habitats, dominated by large expanses of blanket bog and upland heath. They also lie close to major population centres, attract enormous numbers of visitors, and burning there is a highly contentious issue.

However, Rewilding Britain found that driven grouse moors cover 21% of the Peak District, and as the Park authority rather apologetically explains, “Heather burning is a legal activity over which the National Park Authority has no jurisdiction, other than on the limited areas of land that we own. Our own landholdings represent less than 5% of land within the National Park boundary, and burning has not been used as a management tool on our own land for some years. We therefore have no statutory powers to control or regulate heather burning within the wider National Park.”

As of early 2023 the Scottish Parliament is at Stage 1 scrutiny of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill which will set “rules around the making of muirburn (the controlled burning of heather and other plants for land management purposes)”.

Currently the principal legislation governing muirburn is the Hill Farming Act 1946. It is supplemented by the Muirburn Code which sets out both the law and good practice relating to muirburn.

The Code aims to ensure that when muirburn is carried out, it:

• is in the right place
• avoids damage to sensitive habitats and ecosystem services
• doesn’t lead to wildfire

The standard muirburn season runs from 1 October to 15 April inclusive in Scotland. This is mainly to avoid harm to the many moorland birds that nest in spring as well as reptiles coming out of hibernation. An extension to 30 April can be given in exceptional circumstances and with the landowner’s permission.

As in England and Scotland, management of moorland vegetation is addressed by a combination of statutory regulation and a voluntary code: the Heather and Grass Burning Code for Wales 2008 (Welsh Assembly Government, 2008) and Heather and Grass etc. Burning (Wales) Regulations 2008 (Welsh Assembly Government, 2008) which  control the burning of heather, rough grass, bracken, gorse and Vaccinium (bilberry). They do not apply to private gardens or allotment gardens.

The burning season is from 01 October – 31 March in upland areas (defined as land in the Severely Disadvantaged Area of the Less Favoured Area) and 01 November – 15 March elsewhere.

Any person who contravenes any provision of the Burning Regulations commits an offence under section 20(2) of the Hill Farming Act 1946. Offenders may be liable to a fine not exceeding £1,000.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations and responsible for the globally-recognised Red List of Threatened Species – published a Peatland Programme Position Statement: Burning and Peatlands V.4 in April 2023.

The IUCN states that:

•  “The topic of burning was a key consideration in the IUCN UK Peatland Programme (IUCN UK PP) Commission of Inquiry on Peatlands (Bain et al., 2011) and led to a summary briefing on Burning on Peatbogs (IUCN UK PP, 2011). A more recent IUCN UK PP publication, Briefing Note No. 8: Burning (Lindsay et al., 2014), summarised the scientific evidence from an ecological perspective, following Natural England’s Review of Upland Evidence NEER004 (2013) on managed burning and Peatbogs and Carbon (Lindsay, 2010). This updated Position Statement (version 4) takes account of the Natural England Evidence Review NEER014 (Glaves et al., 2020). “

Their position paper says:

• The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) UK Peatland Programme reaffirms that, while there are some dissenting voices, the IUCN UK PP remains committed to the broad consensus of the science arrived at by the majority of acknowledged peatland specialists. Key points, which are addressed in our full position statement (originally produced in 2017, updated in 2020, 2021, and 2023) include: 

1. The overwhelming scientific evidence base points to burning on peatlands causing damage to key peatland species, peatland ecosystem health, and the sustainability of peatland soils. 
2. Burning vegetation on peatland brings no benefits to peatland health or sustainability.
3. Evidence points to peatland restoration management not requiring burning; burning is harmful to the prospects of peatland restoration. 
4. Misleading interpretations of some scientific work point to methodological inconsistencies in defining peatlands and assessing impacts of burning management; there is no evidence that peatland ecosystem health in the UK benefits from burning. 
5. The most effective long-term sustainable solution for addressing wildfire risk on peatlands is to return the sites to fully functioning bog habitat by removing those factors that can cause degradation, such as drainage, unsustainable livestock management and burning regimes. Rewetting and restoring will naturally remove the higher fuel load from degraded peatland vegetation. 
6. Further research and good practice guidance is required for managing wildfire risk on peatlands. 

Not all moorland fires are illegal, and thanks to the numerous exemptions in the regulations given to grouse shooting estates it is very difficult indeed for a casual observer to know with any certainty when a moorland has been set on fire illegally – unless it is taking place on a site where it is totally banned (eg the National Trust’s Marsden Moor).

This is why organisations like the RSPB and the Moorland Monitors ask for all fires to be reported.

On their Be Moor Aware page, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Services give the following advice to help protect the wildlife and moors:

MAGIC is an interactive mapping system launched in 2002, and is an acronym for Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside.

The MAGIC website provides authoritative geographic information about the natural environment from across government. The information covers rural, urban, coastal and marine environments across Great Britain. It is presented in a layered, interactive map which can be explored using various mapping tools that are included.

MAGIC allows users to draw a polygon and perform a site check which will then list any designations within that area. It will also perform a point check and has tools so that users can draw or write on a map and print it off.

Natural England manages the service under the direction of a Steering Group who represent the MAGIC partnership organisations.

Wildlife crime is defined as any action which contravenes current legislation governing the protection of the UK’s wild flora and fauna, including species traded in the UK.

Note that wildlife crime does NOT include:

• Incidents involving domestic or companion animals such as dogs (other than dogs being used to hunt mammals), cats, rabbits, domesticated birds, etc.

• Wild animals that have been involved (killed or injured etc) in road traffic accidents.

Road accidents with wild animals do not need to be reported to the police, but note that domestic animals (as well as goats, horses, cattle, asses, mules, sheep and pigs) come within the remit of the Road Traffic Act.
If you have a road accident involving these animals you are required by law to report it to the police. If the wild animal is so badly injured in a road accident that there is no chance of recovery or the animal can not be returned to the wild then he or she may be euthanised, providing there is no appropriate long-term captive or semi-captive accommodation or when treatment would involve undue suffering or distress.

If we come across a wildlife crime scene or a dead bird/object that may be related to a wildlife crime every piece of information is – or might be – important, but it needs to be recorded properly and accurately for the authorities to have a chance of prosecuting an offender.

• Before we do anything else it is very important that we do NOT approach anyone we suspect of committing a crime – they may be violent and/or aggressive. This is especially true of badger baiters and hare coursers who are typically extremely violent. This must be a first priority!

If we see a wildlife crime taking place (or someone is at risk of getting injured or is being threatened) call 999 immediately.

They will want to know what we can see happening:

• What sort of crime is being committed
• Are any firearms involved
• Could we or the public be in danger

To report a historic crime – that is, a crime that is no longer taking place – use 101 or a local organisation instead.

• If calling the police ask to speak to a Wildlife Crime Officer and make sure to get an Incident Report number.
• Please always follow any advice given and – if they are not available – insist that a Wildlife Crime Officer is made aware of your report.
•  Our options are wider if the event is over, and it may be preferable to talk first to a charity or NGO to get advice. Crimestoppers (an independent charity) can be contacted in complete confidence on 0800 555 111
• When thinking about reporting a crime it’s worth noting that only the police have statutory powers to make an arrest. RSPCA and RSPB investigation officers work with the police for successful prosecutions.

Reporting a wildlife crime (or even a suspected wildlife crime) is important for two reasons.

• If the event is still happening it may enable the authorities to catch the criminals ‘in the act’ (which means a higher chance of prosecution),
• and if the event is over a report can still help to build up a more accurate picture of what might be happening in a specific location or across the country as a whole.

Fire can cause serious damage so please report out-of-control moorland fires to the emergency services on 999.

Other organisations are collating reports of moorland fires to understand how frequent they are and to determine whether they are taking place on protected sites.

The RSPB, for example, has developed an App to collect and report sightings on the move or reports can be made on their website later.

They are asking for information collected during the current burning season and need to know:

• The location of the burn
• The date of the burn
• Whether it was an active or recent burn (An active burn is on fire now with smoke and maybe flames. A recent burn from the current burning season has blackened vegetation, smells of burning and will blacken boots and clothes if you walk through it. There are no new green shoots of vegetation regrowth.)
• A photograph of the burn (very useful but not essential)

Our help is always welcomed

• Whoever we decide to contact we have been assured that our help is welcomed and that if we’re in any doubt that what we’re seeing is a crime we should report it anyway. Remember, if what we see ‘feels’ wrong, it probably is!

• Even if we’re not sure about what we’re seeing, we can take a photograph and email it to the police or an investigations officer – they are trained to quickly recognise for example when a snare is illegally placed, whether a trap is being used illegally, or whether a crime is being committed or not.
• We may help stop or solve future crimes by helping build up a pattern of behaviour in an area.