Controlled Burning

Watch Moorland Association member George Winn-Darley explain how controlled burning helps regenerate the landscape and reduce the risk of wildfire.

The Moorland Association’s free wildfire training course is now trusted by the National Trust for Scotland. It takes under an hour and is open to everyone.

No one is in charge of wildfire in England. The fire services and the Moorland Association agree on the fix: a funded, cross-government national strategy.

A single 2025 wildfire destroyed 80% of a managed moor and centuries of peat — evidence to Parliament on what wildfire costs nature, and why the fix is stalled.

MPs clashed over controlled burning and wildfire risk in the Commons on 13 July. What was said about moorland fuel loads, and where the real disagreement lies.

Burning is restricted to protect carbon — but peatland wildfires cause ~90% of the UK's fire emissions, while managed burns leave the peat unburned.

Wildfires on moorland burn what's available. A look at this summer's blazes — and why cutting and controlled burning must stay in the toolkit.

In 2020 fire destroyed a quarter of the UK's largest reed beds on the Tay. For land managers, it shows why wet ground alone won't stop a wildfire.

MA asks the EFRA Committee to examine whether Natural England can prove its NEER155 peatland burning evidence review underwent rigorous peer review.

The chairman of the EFRA Committee has written to Defra, asking how it is addressing concerns about managed burning licences and the evidence base behind the 2025 burning regulations.

Research shows managed burning and grazing cut wildfire severity by up to 70%. So why is Britain restricting it? What the moors told Parliament's fire inquiry.

Rewetting protects peat carbon but leaves flammable heather and gorse intact. Effective wildfire prevention needs cutting, burning and firebreaks too.