Sheep as Firefighters: Why Grazing is Essential for Moorland Health

Our moorlands are facing an escalating threat: devastating wildfires. While many factors contribute to this growing risk, one often-overlooked solution lies in the age-old practice of grazing by sheep. These tireless, natural "firefighters" play a crucial role in maintaining healthy moorland ecosystems and preventing catastrophic blazes.

The Looming Threat: Unchecked Vegetation

Wildfires are becoming an increasingly serious concern across the UK. In 2018 and 2019 alone, wildfires caused more damage than in the entire preceding decade, destroying nearly 50,000 hectares of land. 2022 was a record for large wildfires in England, with almost a thousand recorded, and 2025 is already surpassing that, with over 35,000 hectares burnt by early May at an estimated cost of £350 million.

This surge is largely due to a dangerous combination of factors:

• Climate Change: Warmer, wetter winters encourage more vegetation growth, which then dries out faster in lower summer humidity, turning landscapes into highly flammable fuel. Experts predict that high-risk days for wildfires in the UK could quadruple by 2080.

• Fuel Load Accumulation: A significant increase in dry vegetation, known as "fuel load," is making our moorlands tinderboxes. This is exacerbated by recent policy decisions, including restrictions on traditional land management practices like controlled burning and mowing.

When wildfires occur, the consequences are devastating. They release a dangerous cocktail of pollutants into the air, including toxic substances like lead and cadmium deposited from centuries of industrial pollution.

The 2018 Saddleworth Moor fire exposed five million people to dangerous pollution and was linked to dozens of premature deaths. These fires burn with intense heat, often reaching deep into the carbon-rich peat soils, which hold more carbon than all the trees in Britain and France combined.

This incinerates vital carbon stores, releasing vast amounts of carbon dioxide and exacerbating climate change. For example, the Saddleworth Moor wildfire alone released an estimated half a million tonnes of CO2.

A Natural Solution: Grazing Animals

Historically, and still effectively today, grazing animals like sheep have been crucial for managing vegetation and reducing fuel loads on moorlands. They act as a natural form of fuel load management by consuming vegetation, keeping it at a manageable length. This helps to break up continuous fuel, making it harder for wildfires to spread rapidly and intensely.

Gamekeepers and moorland managers traditionally employed a holistic approach to land management, which included both controlled burning and strategic grazing. This creates a mosaic of vegetation of different ages and heights, which is not only effective for wildfire prevention but also enhances biodiversity by providing diverse habitats for a variety of moorland species.

The Impact of Policy: A 'Perfect Storm'

Despite the proven benefits of grazing, current policies in the UK, heavily influenced by Natural England, have unfortunately discouraged this vital practice. Natural England has provided incentives for farmers to reduce the number of sheep they graze. This has led to a sharp reduction in the national sheep flock, which fell by 7% over two years to 13.8 million in 2024.

The Moorland Association estimates that this reduction means an extra 600,000 tonnes of vegetation is being left annually to accumulate in the countryside, compounding the fuel load problem. Considering that an average sheep consumes roughly 1.5 kg of vegetation a day, the impact of this policy is clear. This reduction in sheep, coupled with restrictions on controlled burning, creates a "perfect storm" for fuel load build-up.

Farmers and land managers express frustration that rules affecting them are irrational and ignore their generations of local knowledge and successful land management techniques. There is a feeling that policies are leading to a "slow-motion takeover" of land, with tenancies cut short and land left unmanaged.

Farmers are being pushed off land by organizations like the National Trust for refusing to abandon traditional sheep farming in favour of rewilding or tree planting schemes.

Beyond Wildfire Prevention: Broader Benefits

The benefits of grazing extend beyond merely reducing wildfire risk. Sheep grazing contributes to:

• Biodiversity: Grazing helps maintain diverse habitats by preventing tall heather from becoming dominant and crowding out other plant species.

• Peatland Health: While some argue that overgrazing can harm peat, evidence suggests that sheep can help control ticks and contribute to overall moorland health when managed appropriately.

• Rural Livelihoods and Skills: The push to remove sheep impacts rural communities by leading to a "brain drain" of traditional farming and gamekeeping skills, such as dry stone walling and working with hefted flocks unique to specific moorland terrains.

The Moorland Association and other organizations argue that traditional land management practices, including grazing and controlled burning, are essential tools for protecting and improving the integrity of precious upland peatland sites.

Learning from Others: International Perspective

It's noteworthy that while the UK moves to discourage grazing, other regions are actively embracing it for wildfire prevention. The EU Commission and the US Government specifically advocate the use of "fire sheep" and goats as a means of reducing wildfire risk. This international recognition underscores the effectiveness of grazing as a natural and sustainable wildfire mitigation strategy.

The Way Forward

The current situation in England, with rising wildfire risks due to increasing fuel loads, demands an urgent and coordinated response.

• Rethink Policies: There is a crucial need for a major rethink on how best to tackle devastating wildfires, moving towards a pragmatic, long-term, and holistic view of land management.

• Support Land Managers: Policymakers must listen to the expertise and experience of those who live and work on the land, including farmers and gamekeepers, rather than relying on "desktop conservation". These individuals are often the first to spot and respond to wildfire outbreaks, providing invaluable "no-cost firefighting support".

• Prioritize Evidence-Based Approaches: Policies should be based on robust, long-term scientific evidence rather than unproven trends or ideological opposition. The G7 and the White House have even backed controlled burning to reduce extreme wildfire risks, recognizing it as an "ancient wisdom" and "cultural" practice.

• Reduce Rural Fuel Loads: Legislation should be implemented to require rural fuel loads to be reduced to safe levels, just as it is in urban areas.

• Employ Experts: Natural England and Defra should recruit in-house wildfire experts to guide policymaking.

Wildfire prevention is not just an environmental issue; it's about protecting communities, landscapes, and wildlife. By acknowledging the vital role of sheep grazing and supporting traditional land management practices, we can equip our moorlands with the natural defenses they need to withstand the growing threat of devastating wildfires, safeguarding these precious landscapes for future generations.

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