No smoke without ire! Wildlife charity blasts Packham over call for heather-burning ban
HE portrays himself as a champion of the countryside.
But TV presenter Chris Packham has come under fire from a wildlife charity amid a row about the traditional practice of heather-burning.
The Springwatch host has called for a ban on so-called muirburn, claiming it destroys peatland and releases greenhouse gases.
But the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) has published research showing controlled blazes – often used on grouse moors – may be good for the environment.
GWCT communications director Andrew Gilruth said: ‘Nothing is simple in the uplands and this subject is far more complex than it might seem at first glance.
‘Thirty years ago you would be fined if you didn’t burn. Now if you do, you face being vilified by Packham and co, who will bring down a tsunami on you. It’s heartbreaking for the people on the ground.’
Gamekeepers burn heather to promote new growth, which allows several species of ground-nesting birds and the lucrative field sports industry to flourish.
But Mr Packham and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) are among those who want it banned, claiming grouse moors should be allowed to ‘rewild’.
On Twitter, the 59-year-old TV star said burning heather ‘releases 260,000 tons’ of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
The GWCT study – published in the journal Ecological Indicators – examined 48 sites on Langholm Moor, part of the Buccleuch Estates in Dumfries-shire, where fires had been set and compared them with areas of untouched moorland. The researchers found that sphagnum moss, which forms peat, could be damaged by severe fires but flourished after a low-intensity blaze.
Controlled burns also reduced the amount of vegetation which could become the sort of tinder that triggers wildfires. Mr Gilruth said: ‘Our research is peer-reviewed and published in academic journals.
‘Chris Packham has previously dismissed research that doesn’t back his view as “just more greenwash”. But whatever happened to the value of evidence?
‘You can’t say, “It’s my way or I’ll start vilifying you”. It’s quite dangerous.’ Mr Packham has been outspoken on a number of environmental issues, including fox-hunting and badger-culling.
Duncan Orr-Ewing, of RSPB Scotland’s, dismissed the GWCT’s findings, saying: ‘The current best practice guidance emphasises restoring peatlands through rewetting and not by burning.’
The Scottish Government said: ‘Muirburn is a complex issue. If undertaken without due consideration of all possible consequences, it has the potential to have a serious negative impact on wildlife.’
A spokesman for Mr Packham declined to comment.