Scottish Land and Estates argues controlled muirburn is vital to tackle wildfires, after summit in the Highlands
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
MUIRBURN "must be part of the toolkit to tackle wildfires", Scotland's landowners and land managers have argued.
They were speaking after a summit was held last week to discuss wildfires in the wake of recent high profile incidents – including massive fires at Cannich and Daviot.
Welcoming the summit, Scottish Land and Estates nevertheless urged the Scottish Government to "listen to fire experts and recognise the value of controlled burning".
The practice of muirburn is controversial, with landowners arguing it is needed to ensure that dead plant matter doesn't build-up enough to provide a ready source of fuel should a wildfire break out. They argue it also helps mitigate the amount of carbon dioxide that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere during an out-of-control wildfire.
The practice is also used to encourage new growth that is ideal for the likes of grouse, and controlled burns are regularly carried out to boost the bird species' numbers on shooting estates.
And it has also been used to prevent the further spread of out-of-control wildfires, including – it is understood – during this spring's Cannich blaze.
However, ecologists and environmentalists argue that muirburn itself releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and also risks destablising underlying peat, which it itself can then release large quantities of the greenhouse gas. They have also warned that muirburns can also risk creating the wildfires they aim to prevent if wind conditions suddenly change.
Related: Highland wildfire responders win praise in parliament after MSP Kate Forbes lodges motion of thanks
Scottish Land & Estates were among representatives to attend the wildlife summit in Beauly, which was organised by MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Kate Forbes MSP.
Bruce Farquharson, deputy assistant chief officer at the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service, was among those speaking and he provided an overview of recent wildfire incidents and tools such as muirburn that he said can help mitigate the wildfire risk. Muirburn is understood to have been one of the tools used to prevent the Cannich fire spreading further.
Tim Baynes, senior policy officer at Scottish Land and Estates, said: “Wildfire is becoming an evermore present danger to Scotland and we welcome the efforts of Kate Forbes MSP in organising this valuable summit.
“As we have seen in recent years, wildfires have caused devastation across many areas of the Highlands, particularly at Cannich in May as well as the Flow Country fire in 2019 which was estimated to have doubled Scotland's greenhouse gas emissions for the six days it burnt.
“It is up to the Scottish Government, its agencies and stakeholders to look for solutions that can manage the increasing risk as much as possible. That involves taking the views and expertise of gamekeepers and land managers into account and working with them in partnership.
“We spoke at the summit about work going on elsewhere that we can learn from, such as at the Peak District National Park in England where a range of groups and government have come together to develop landscape scale wildfire mitigation planning. Their method combines local practitioner knowledge and professional wildfire expertise to provide a solid evidence base for responding to wildfires and it is an approach we should be looking at.”
SLE also reiterated its call for "the value of muirburn to be recognised" when managing land susceptible to wildfire.
Mr Baynes added: “Controlled burning of vegetation, commonly known at muirburn, is vital in lowering the risk by reducing the fuel load through which wildfires can spread.
“Deputy assistant chief officer Bruce Farquharson and the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service are on record as supporting muirburn as part of the toolkit that we must have at our disposal and it is particularly pertinent at a time when firefighters in Spain and other countries are using controlled burning and backburning to fight their own wildfires.
“The Scottish Government has proposed punitive new restrictions on muirburn, purportedly as part of measures to address the climate emergency, but it is failing to listen to experts that explain why the resulting higher risk of wildfire is much, much worse for both the environment and communities.
“Any form of regulation for muirburn should be proportionate. We are fully supportive of the need for only trained individuals to carry out muirburn and this is already happening with more than 100 land managers and gamekeepers across Scotland receiving the latest approved training, with many more to follow.
“We hope that collective progress can be achieved on tackling wildfires following today’s summit but we would urge the Scottish Government not to take a decision on muirburn that could hamper those efforts for decades to come.”
