Scotland Acts on Wildfire Warnings While Defra Turns Away

Credit: Bright Spark Burning Techniques

While the Scottish Government works hand-in-hand with land managers and wildfire experts to shape practical, evidence-based policy, Defra continues down a path of its own making - one that is detached from science, unworkable in practice and dangerous in consequence.

In Scotland, ministers have listened. Recognising the scale of the wildfire threat and the importance of heather burning as a tool for prevention, the Scottish Government has twice delayed the start of its new licensing system.

The latest postponement, pushes implementation back to autumn 2026, explicitly to ensure that new rules “do not adversely affect our ability to prevent and respond to wildfires.” That decision was made after consultation with land managers, scientists and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the very people who fight and prevent wildfires.

It follows the devastating Carrbridge and Dava wildfires, which released an estimated 590,000 tonnes of CO₂ in just four days.

By contrast, Defra has refused to listen to anyone. Its licensing regime, rushed through after a flawed consultation, now takes months to process applications, leaving land managers unable to act during the burning season that has already begun. In effect, it has created a ban by bureaucracy.

Scotland Leads by Example

Ross Ewing of Scottish Land & Estates welcomed the delay as a victory for common sense:

“Without this delay, the ability to undertake controlled muirburn would have been significantly constrained, increasing the build-up of vegetation and, in turn, the risk of wildfire.”

This is what a government looks like when it works with the rural sector instead of against it. Scotland’s ministers recognised that making prevention impossible is not environmental protection, it’s environmental negligence.

They are now hosting a Wildfire Summit to ensure future rules align with expert advice and the practical realities of managing land safely. England, facing the same climate pressures and wildfire risks, is doing the opposite.

Defra’s Dangerous Isolation

Defra’s current approach isolates it from the very expertise it claims to rely on. The National Fire Chiefs Council, the professional body for the UK’s fire services, has repeatedly warned that restrictions on managed burning increase wildfire risk. Yet Defra ignored their input and pressed ahead without any engagement with those on the front line.

The result? A licensing system so complex, slow and unclear that even responsible land managers cannot comply. Policy should enable safe, sustainable management, not criminalise it through delay and confusion.

When government departments treat consultation as a box-ticking exercise rather than a chance to learn from experience, the outcome is policy that fails in both intent and effect.

A Tale of Two Governments

The difference between Edinburgh and London could not be clearer.

- Scotland: pragmatic, collaborative, and evidence-led. It has recognised that heather burning, when managed safely, reduces fuel load and protects landscapes from catastrophic fire.

- Defra: bureaucratic, insular, and dismissive. It has created regulation that blocks action when it’s most needed. The new license application process is not even fit for purpose.

The climate crisis is already increasing the number and intensity of wildfires in the UK. The challenge now is not to debate whether we act, but how we act. On that question, Scotland is leading. England is lagging dangerously behind.

Time to Listen

Defra’s failure to engage has already forced land managers into an impossible position and soon it may have to answer to the courts. Our legal action is not about politics. It’s about public safety. Controlled burning, carried out by trained professionals under strict rules, is a proven method of reducing wildfire risk.

Denying land managers the ability to act while the risk mounts is indefensible. If Defra cannot bring itself to listen to the people who manage, study and fight fires, perhaps it will listen to the judiciary.

Because when government policy ignores evidence, collaboration and common sense, it’s not just landscapes that burn. It’s credibility, too.

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