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Ban the burn – protect all peat!

Evidence shows burning peatlands harms nature and climate

The UK Government has announced proposals to ban heather burning on some peatland in England.

The Wildlife Trusts welcome the move but say all peatland should be protected from burning because of the damage it causes to wildlife and detrimental impact on air quality, carbon emissions and flood prevention. 

The proposals which are out for public consultation could mean that an extra 146,000 hectares (ha) of upland peat areas will be protected from burning, leading to 368,000 ha in total to be protected. However, the area of England's deep peat is 677,000ha – which means that many areas will continue to be unprotected.  

Dr Rob Stoneman, director of landscape recovery at The Wildlife Trusts, says: 

“The proposal to extend the ban on the burn is most welcome. Burning peat is an extremely damaging activity, and so we're really pleased that the government is taking the issue seriously. A ban will be good news for the air that we breathe, for the water we drink, and for the natural carbon cycle – and it will mean less flooding for people. It’s also brilliant news for wildlife.  

“But we need to see all burning of peatland banned. Burning kills the species that rely on precious peatlands – from rare bog-mosses and moorland birds to dragonflies and adders. The practice is entirely unnecessary – extensive evidence shows that alternate forms of moorland management, particularly blocking up drains and restoring water to natural levels, works much better than burning. 

Adder

Adder © Jamie Hall

A male white-faced darter dragonfly perched on a leaf. It has a body with a long black abdomen. The front of the face is white.

White-faced darter © Vicky Nall

Heather © Mark Hamblin 2020Vision

Heather © Mark Hamblin 2020Vision

“Regular burning of peatlands can cause severe wildfires. Over the years the practice has replaced wet sphagnum moss with habitats that are dominated by heather and sedges – and these plants are much more susceptible to wildfire. Bringing back wetter sphagnum rich blanket bog will help prevent wildfires. 

“As the climate and nature emergency deepens, banning peatland burning can’t come soon enough. Our designated sites – Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas – should have been protected from burning long ago. It is now time to extend a burning ban to all peatlands – designated or not”.

Emma Hinchliffe, Director of the IUCN UK Peatland Programme says:  

“The consensus that burning is damaging to peatland has long been established and adopted in government policy. The long-awaited Natural England Evidence Review brings no new evidence but reinforces that consensus.  As a result of this, protection for England's peatlands looks likely to be strengthened. The move to change the definition of deep peat from 40cm to 30cm is positive and the proposal for burning to be only permitted under licence mirrors the approach being taken by Scottish Government through the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Bill.” 

The heather and grass burning in England consultation will run until 25th May 2025. 

Editor's Notes

  • *The current licencing system only protects from burning those sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) that are also designated as special areas of conservation (SACs) or special protection areas (SPAs). Those SSSIs that are not designated as SAC or SPA remain unprotected from burning. 

  • See Wildfire Resilience: why rewetting peatlands must play a key role 

  • Natural England’s guidance on ‘Favourable Conservation Status’ has said that where peat soils of 10-30 cm are present these should be classed as wet heath and restored as such. They have called for 106,000 ha increase in wet heath area vs 25,000 ha in dry heath. The Wildlife Trusts believe that burning should also cease on upland heaths to aid their restoration to wet heath. 

  • Peatlands rely on their connection to the landscape and the habitats which are part of a natural transition from peat to non-peat areas. Natural England guidance highlights the need for this to be recognised and natural processes restored to allow the whole mosaic of upland habitats to recover to health.  

  • See Natural England’s: Growing the evidence base to recover England’s treasured peatland landscapes – Natural England 

  • The IUCN UK Peatland Programme is hosted by The Wildlife Trusts and exists to promote peatland restoration in the UK and advocates the multiple benefits of peatlands through partnerships, strong science, sound policy and effective practice: IUCN UK Peatland Programme 

Links to the relevant documents, released by Defra yesterday:  

The Wildlife Trusts   

The Wildlife Trusts are making the world wilder and helping to ensure that nature is part of everyone’s lives. We are a grassroots movement of 46 charities with more than 910,000 members and 35,000 volunteers. No matter where you are in Britain, there is a Wildlife Trust inspiring people and saving, protecting and standing up for the natural world. With the support of our members, we care for and restore over 2,000 special places for nature on land and run marine conservation projects and collect vital data on the state of our seas. Every Wildlife Trust works within its local community to inspire people to create a wilder future – from advising thousands of landowners on how to manage their land to benefit wildlife, to connecting hundreds of thousands of school children with nature every year. www.wildlifetrusts.org 

Peat © Mark Hamblin 2020VISION

Mark Hamblin/2020VISION

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