17th October 2012
The RSPB has lodged a complaint with the European Commission concerned with how Natural England has executed its role. One focus of the complaint is the allowing of burning of heather on blanket bog as part of grouse moor management.
Blanket bog is an important habitat both nationally and internationally. It supports important wildlife and also stores an astonishing amount of carbon in the peat soil. When in ‘active’ state, blanket bog is also capable of locking up additional carbon from the atmosphere through Sphagnum moss species which is desirable to help mitigate climate change. However, the science is complex and there is concern that as CO2 is captured, the very much more potent green house gas, methane, is released.
In the uplands of England there are 244,235 ha of blanket bog, 169,450 ha of which are under grouse moor management. Half of the blanket bog under grouse moor management in England is designated Special Area of Conservation under the EC Habitats Directive.
Blanket bog is defined as peat soil of greater than 0.5 metres. There are, however, large variations in how wet or dry the peat is and the vegetation found overlying the soil. Many factors have played a role in determining what is seen today including historical drainage encouraged by former Governments to improve grazing productivity, air pollution, grazing pressure, weather erosion, rotational burning, altitude above sea-level and wildfire.
To help fulfil EC Habitat Directives, Moorland Association members have blocked up over 1,250 miles of moorland drainage ditches (grips) in the last decade with 823 further miles planned. However, all involved acknowledge that it is still not certain that this action will turn dry deep peat and dwarf shrub heath vegetation into wet deep peat with Sphagnum moss and cotton grass species typical of ‘active’ blanket bog.
The RSPB’s own evidence review openly admits that although Sphagnum species are thought to be sensitive to fire, the actual effects of careful rotational burning as carried out on grouse moors in accordance with the Grass and Heather Burning Code are poorly understood. Natural England is conducting its own scientific evidence review to identify gaps in knowledge. The Moorland Association is fully involved in this process and sits of the Burning Group, along with the RSPB, and is energetic in demonstrating on the ground the great variations in what is termed ‘blanket bog’ and its associated management and wildlife.
RSPB research has shown that wading birds are up to five times more abundant on moorland managed for red grouse than moorland that does not have heather burning and predator control as part of their management. In fact, golden plover are often found to preferentially nest in the middle of burnt heather patches on grouse moors and the RSPB acknowledge that both vegetation management and predator control may be important in maintaining or slowing nationally declining populations of several important species amongst which waders are most noticeable.
In some situations, the RSPB also recognises that rotational burning could confer benefits to carbon storage and DOC levels by reducing the risks of severe wildfire. Where there are large blocks of heather dominated moorland, it is desirable to break up the pattern with burning to create firebreaks and reduce the fuel for a wildfire. This is true even on deep peat –especially dry deep peat which is more susceptible to wildfire and where the damage caused could be at its most severe.
On typical active blanket bog, the wetness slows the growth of heather to make heather burning both unnecessary, and indeed impracticable. Such areas are usually treated with particular care when drawing up heather burning agreements. The Moorland Association will continue its very productive dialogue with upland stakeholders and Government agencies to ensure the very real benefits of heather burning for conservation and land management are properly recognised and understood. It will also seek to fill agreed gaps in the scientific evidence base with collaborative research projects which may help the EC with formulating a decision should it decide to investigate the complaint from the RSPB.
