Allow muirburn or risk catastrophic wildfires in rural Scotland, gamekeepers warn

The calls come after parts of Moray and the Highlands were devastated by wildfires.

Scotland will be faced with larger wildfires if muirburn restrictions are tightened, gamekeepers have warned.

The message came from members of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) and Scotland’s Regional Moorland Groups (SRMG) during a meeting with NGOs, NatureScot and government advisors this week.

Muirburn

Muirburn is the controlled burning of moorland vegetation between September and March to encourage new growth, either heather or grassland, for the management of moorland game and wildlife. It has also been used for generations as a technique to prevent wildfires as it creates fire breaks in the land.

Firefighters have been battling blazes across the Highlands and Moray. | SGA Media/PA Wire

Earlier this year, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said the practice was an effective tool to reduce wildfire risk.

Recent wildfires

The pleas come after hundreds of gamekeepers mobilised voluntarily to help fight massive wildfires in the Cairngorms over four days.

Flames ripped through vast swathes of land between Carrbridge in Highland to Dallas, outside Forres in Moray, over the weekend, with the embers fading only earlier this week.

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Witnessing the catastrophic damage to wildlife first-hand has relit the fire in the bellies of gamekeepers and other rural workers demanding the Scottish Government reassess the muirburn restrictions.

Muirburn Bill

Provisions of the new Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 include that anyone carrying out muirburn will require a licence for all muirbuirn activity, even on non-peatland.

For muirburn on peatlands, the Act defines this as areas of ground where peat exceeds 40cm. There is, however, no mapping on how much of Scotland is classified under this new definition.

As a result, if gamekeepers, farmers and crofters want to carry out burning, they will have to probe the ground with a peat probe in a 100m grid to discover peat depth before considering muirburn.

Some wildlife groups lobbied for heavier restrictions, claiming muirburn is dangerous for peat and wildlife.

Rural groups, however, have pushed back against the regulations due to the complexity of mapping peat depth, establishing survey data and preparing licence applications. They also warn the new rules will push more land out of active management at a time when increasing fuel loads need to be reduced.

The pushback led to the Scottish Government choosing to delay the implementation of licensing, which was due to start in September, until January next year.

‘The Government is not getting this right’

Commenting after the recent wildfires, a SGA spokesperson said it was clear land in the area affected that had muirburn on it helped slow the fire.

The spokesperson said: “Occupied hen harrier and peregrine falcon nests have been burnt out. Sheep, red-listed moorland wader chicks and protected young mountain hares have perished. The amphibian population has been decimated and this will be exacerbated by people having to stop controlled burning on steep slopes and on peat.

“The Government is not getting this right. They are destroying the very things they set out to protect.”

Agriculture minister Jim Fairlie said the Scottish Government recognised the importance of muirburn in creating firebreaks to help tackle wildfires. He said the Act allowed for it to happen.

“It also ensures people are trained to the highest standards and is undertaken appropriately to minimise the negative impacts on peatlands wildlife and other sensitive habitats,” he said.

“We fully understand the concerns about wildfires and have been in continual and close contact with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and other responders as we continue to carefully monitor the situation. I have also been in contact with Scottish Land and Estates and NFU Scotland to see what practical help was needed at the height of the fire.

“The Scottish Government is working with SFRS to support full implementation of its wildfire strategy, which will see the continued roll-out this year of new equipment, vehicles and personal protective equipment.”

Mr Fairlie said gamekeepers were “a massive help to the SFRS in bringing these recent and other wildfires under control and estates often use their own equipment to help in those efforts”.