Controlled Burning

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.

Fire chiefs, crews and Yorkshire Water told Parliament's wildfire inquiry the same thing: unmanaged fuel load makes moorland fires far harder to contain.

Natural England and Defra still can't show the audit trail behind NEER155's “rigorous peer review” claim — and why that matters for moorland management.

A wildfire burned around 200 hectares of moorland near Glossop. Land managers say new limits on controlled burning leave England's uplands primed to burn.