A Lesson from Scotland: Don’t Wait for Disaster to Act

The Scottish Government has announced that it will suspend implementation of its controlled burning licensing scheme until next autumn, following significant concerns raised by land managers, scientists and wildfire experts. This is in the wake of the devastating Carrbridge and Dava wildfires in June of this year.

That decision could not be more sensible.

Scotland’s Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, Jim Fairlie MSP, said the delay will “provide us with the time and opportunity to carefully consider the upcoming changes to muirburn and how these changes can be brought forward in a way which does not adversely affect our ability to prevent and respond to wildfires".

In other words, Scotland is pausing to get it right. It wants to ensure that policy intended to protect the environment does not inadvertently make wildfires worse.

England is Heading in the Opposite Direction

Just across the border, however, the Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 came into effect on 30th September, introducing sweeping new restrictions that raise all the same concerns now recognised in Scotland.

These rules further limit land managers’ ability to control vegetation and reduce fuel loads, the very actions that prevent catastrophic wildfires. They were introduced after a legally flawed consultation process, which ignored key evidence from the fire services, scientists and those managing the land.

Defra has created a system that looks like regulation but functions like paralysis. Licences are theoretically available, but in practice they take months to obtain, far longer than the short burning window allows.

We Have Acted - Now Defra Must Listen

The Moorland Association has already written a formal pre-action letter to Defra challenging the consultation, the process and the decision-making behind these regulations. The letter sets out in detail the public law issues with the way the department reached its decision, including serious failures to consider wildfire risk, the practicalities of compliance and the views of expert stakeholders.

We are now awaiting a response from Defra. This legal step is not one we take lightly. But when government policy directly increases the risk to life, property and ecosystems we have a duty to act.

Don’t Wait for Another Carrbridge

The Carrbridge and Dava wildfires were Scotland’s largest ever, releasing 590,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in just four days. They stand as a stark warning of what happens when fuel loads are allowed to build and fire prevention is stifled by regulation rather than supported by it.

We do not want it to take a similar, massive and devastating fire in England to change minds here. Defra must pause, listen and learn, just as Scotland has done. It must look again at the science, the evidence and the advice of those on the front line of wildfire management.

Because once the next major wildfire breaks out, it will be too late for Defra to say it didn’t see it coming.

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