Controlled Burning

MPs heard evidence that cutting wildfire risk means managing upland fuel loads — through prescribed burning, cutting and grazing — not rewetting alone.

A Teesdale survey found roughly twice as many curlews on blanket bog managed by burning or cutting as on unmanaged bog, while numbers stayed stable.

Record wildfires are now a threat to Britain's electricity supply. The evidence on fuel load points to a remedy that policy is moving away from: controlled burning on the uplands.

A Stanford study in Science finds low-severity fire cuts the worst wildfires by 92% — and saves more smoke than it produces — which is significant for the UK burning debate.

UK contributors shaped a new global ranking of the 50 biggest unanswered questions in peatland science, from fire management to carbon-credit integrity.

The Court of Appeal refused our challenge to the 2025 heather burning regulations. We now need members to test the licensing system to prove its flaws.

Counting the wildfire smoke it prevents, controlled burning cut Oregon's smoke-related health costs by 65% and returned $4.35 for every dollar spent.

The Moorland Association responds to The Telegraph's wildfire coverage: ministers are ignoring fifteen years of Defra's own evidence on controlled burning.

Blanket fire suppression fuels worse blazes. Learn how global fire ecology research supports managed burning to prevent devastating wildfires on British moorlands.

US data proves prescribed burning yields a $3.73 return for every $1 spent on wildfire prevention. Discover why UK upland policy urgently needs a similar study.

The RSPB and Leeds want grouse-moor licensing on air-quality grounds. The 2025 wildfire data - and their own figures - point the other way.

How to complain to Defra about delay, poor communication or inconsistent handling of a burning licence application. New Moorland Association guidance.