Last week’s spell of hot, dry weather brought a predictable spate of moorland fires, most notably at Tintwhistle Moor in Derbyshire where 500 acres of moorland burned over two days. What makes such fires increasingly inevitable, however, is not just the weather. Tintwhistle has the added risk factors of being managed by the RSPB and attracting very large numbers of visitors. Put those together with the prevailing weather and wildfires are almost bound to follow.
There is not much that can be done, in the short term at least, about our warming climate. Likewise public access, which in nearly every case is the spark that lights such fires, has become a sacred political cow and the idea of attempting to manage who can access moorland and when is not up for debate. Educating those people who do spend time on the moors about fire risk is the usual soundbite deployed in response to such events, but in reality all the signage and messaging is making no difference to the prevalence of fires. That leaves management and it is here that, as in so many other parts of life, ideology is blinding some people to reality.
The issue in the uplands is the traditional management associated with grouse shooting. Burning heather and other vegetation to remove older, rank vegetation and stimulate the growth of younger nutritious plants happens all over the world and for agricultural as well as sporting purposes in the UK. It is image and perception, however, which triggers many environmentalists and the debate about burning has become inextricably linked to the distaste they have for grouse shooting. Add to that the current fad for ‘rewilding’ practiced by organisations like the RSPB on moors not managed for shooting and you have the proverbial tinderbox.
The irony is, of course, that the work that gamekeepers do on managed moors not only benefits many species beyond grouse, but it also makes wildfires less likely because it reduces fuel loads and removes the old vegetation that feeds a fire.
Last week the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee held an oral evidence session on wildfires as part of its inquiry into climate adaptation and emergency response. The main issue raised by land managers was government policy which has increasingly restricted the ability to manage vegetation on moorlands, whist simultaneously encouraging ‘rewilding’. Together these actions have led to a significant increase in fuel load and increased the likelihood of wildfires. Tintwhistle is also a reminder that ‘rewetting’ moors by blocking drains and holding water in the peat is no barrier to wildfires. The area of the moor devastated by the wildfire had been subject to exactly that regime.
This should not be controversial. Every fire service understands that preventing dangerous fuel build-up is fundamental to reducing fire intensity. Across much of the world, prescribed burning, strategic cutting and well-managed grazing are accepted tools of landscape management. Yet the government is restricting these measures because they fail to fit a simplistic narrative that leaving nature alone is always the answer.
Richard Bailey, of the Peak District Moorland Group and a gamekeeper of more than three decades, delivered a stark message to the EFRA committee: "Unless Westminster stops deliberately building up huge fuel loads of vegetation, it is only a matter of time before somebody is killed."