Response to The Guardian: Why Managed Moorland Must Be Part of the Climate Solution

This Guardian article warns that the world has just two years left to stay within the 1.5°C carbon budget. The call for urgent climate action is justified - but it will fail if we continue to ignore practical land management and alienate the rural communities best placed to help.

At the Moorland Association, we represent land managers who care for over a million acres of upland England. These are the people actively reducing wildfire risk, protecting peatlands, and preserving vital carbon stores - not through theory, but through boots-on-the-ground action every day of the year.

Take wildfires. As discussed in the House of Lords just last week, unmanaged vegetation on peatlands is now a major wildfire threat. When peat burns, centuries of stored carbon are lost in hours. Controlled burning - widely used by our members and backed by the G7 and the US Government - reduces fuel load and breaks up fire pathways. Yet in the UK, Natural England continues to obstruct this proven prevention method.

Rewetting is often touted as a silver bullet. But our members have already blocked over 7,000km of ditches - and the promised results have not materialised. In Indonesia, where rewetting has been trialled extensively on deeper peat with far more rainfall, it still hasn’t worked. Meanwhile, in our drier uplands, we are expected to believe it will stop wildfires?

The science is clear: emissions from peatland wildfires in dry years can spike by over 60% - even if the area burned doesn’t increase. Managed burning reduces this risk. Yet those on the ground are being silenced in favour of unproven academic models.

If we keep sidelining traditional land managers and pushing one-size-fits-all policies, we risk making things worse, not better.

📧 Keep updated on this and all moorland issues - sign up for our FREE weekly newsletter.