Moorland blaze must not be misrepresented

Countryside Alliance's Head of Shooting Liam Stokes writes:

The Saddleworth Moor fire that started last Sunday continues to burn. Greater Manchester fire and rescue service say it could take weeks to put out. Firefighters are out there right now, supported by soldiers, gamekeepers, farmers and wardens from the Peak District National Park, National Trust and RSPB. People who love that part of the world have come together to risk their lives to battle the blaze, but unfortunately, far from the frontline, columnists and campaigners have sought to use the fire to advance their own agendas.

First and foremost, any discussion of the events near Saddleworth must begin with a salute to everyone fighting the fire. The stories we are hearing from those on the ground are distressing, and everyone involved deserves our respect, admiration and gratitude.

What they do not deserve is to be sniped at by cosy newspaper columnists writing from the safety of their keyboards many miles away. Gamekeepers are one group among many who are fighting this fire, but their knowledge and expertise is invaluable. Much like managing a moorland, fighting a wildfire is incredibly complicated, and gamekeepers from nine shooting estates from across the Peak District have been providing much-needed experience and equipment (link to PDMG press release). Yet even as gamekeepers were battling smoke and flame, anti-shooting campaigners and strident rewilders were taking to social media to blame them for starting the fire in the first place.

On the one hand, this is deeply disrespectful. One commentator referred to his keeper-blaming column as a "quick note for the Guardian". Well that "quick note" probably could have waited until we knew that all keepers were safely out of harms way. Or maybe it could have waited until the cause of the fire had been established, something that fire chiefs have said would be investigated at an appropriate time, thus acknowledging that now is not the time for wild speculation.

On the other hand, it is also deeply misleading. Upland management is incredibly complicated. Pointing the finger of blame at one group of people, the very people with the knowledge and experience to navigate that complexity, is just wrong on every conceivable level. The rewilders want people to believe that this fire happened because our uplands are covered in much-loved heather moorland rather than their preferred prescription of trees. Trees which would drain the blanket bog and eliminate the ground nesting birds that any credible conservationist seeks to protect. Trees which would provide an even greater fuel load leading to even larger fires.

The true conservationist knows that in our patchwork countryside there is a place for trees. There is a place for farmland and moorland and woodland and, with apologies to rewilders, a place for people to live, work and enjoy themselves. But it takes experts to manage and balance these habitats and demands, and wishing these experts didn't exist while they are literally putting themselves in the line of fire is folly. Luckily, gamekeepers are still there, and right now they are battling the Saddleworth fire that they did not cause but they will help extinguish.

Click here to read our advice on what to do to reduce the risks on wildfires.