Science or Spin? Concerns Raised Over Natural England’s Heather Burning Review
- Rob Beeson
- Sep 26
- 2 min read
A new analysis has exposed serious flaws in Natural England’s official evidence review on prescribed heather burning (NEER155).
Heather moorland management is central to the health of Britain’s uplands. The University of York’s independent review of ten key claims concluded that the science is complex, with many uncertainties, and urged further research. In contrast, NEER155 presents prescribed burning almost entirely in negative terms.
The Moorland Association’s comparison of the two reports highlights four recurring problems in Natural England’s review:
Overloading with complexity – drowning important findings in dense technical detail.
One-sided caveats – applying scrutiny only to results that show burning in a positive light.
Selective weighting – elevating weaker or outdated studies over more robust evidence.
Framing by omission – leaving out crucial context that changes the meaning of results.
Examples include:
Carbon storage: York emphasised uncertainty and contradictory evidence. NEER155 claimed burning definitively harms carbon balance.
Wildfire risk: York found prescribed burning reduces fuel loads and mitigates wildfire severity. NEER155 focused only on escaped burns, omitting its preventative role.
Water quality: York found no clear evidence linking burning to poor water quality, with drainage the bigger factor. NEER155 repeated older claims of harm, ignoring newer studies that show otherwise.
Biodiversity: York noted some species, such as curlew, benefit from burning. NEER155 downplayed these gains by treating them as equivalent to minor invertebrate changes.
Alternatives: York showed that cutting heather also causes damage, especially to peat structure. NEER155 consistently highlighted burning’s negatives while ignoring cutting’s drawbacks.
This selective approach, the analysis concludes, creates a misleadingly negative picture of burning, replacing scientific uncertainty with misplaced certainty.
Why This Matters
Heather moorlands are among the UK’s most valued landscapes, home to rare birds and vital habitats. Policy built on biased evidence risks undermining conservation and increasing wildfire threats. Sound decisions must be based on fair, balanced science, not selective interpretation.
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