Western Morning News (Saturday)
Law could ban burning on West’s moorland
THE tradition of swaling – burning off moorland vegetation to encourage new growth on the uplands of the Westcountry – could be under threat from a change in the law.
New regulations are to be brought in to prevent the burning of heather and other vegetation in what Ministers say is a bid to better protect peatlands.
The plans to bring forward legislation for protected blanket bog habitats have been welcomed as “vital” for “globally important” land, but moorland owners say burning is a ‘vital tool.’
THE burning of gorse and other vegetation on Dartmoor and Exmoor in Devon and Bodmin Moor in Cornwall could be banned as part of efforts to halt climate change.
New regulations are to be brought in to prevent the burning of heather and other vegetation in a bid to better protect peatlands. The plans to bring forward legislation for protected blanket bog habitats have been welcomed as “vital” for “globally important” land.
In 2019, research conducted by the university of Plymouth found that the peatlands of Dartmoor could be an underestimated resource in the fight against climate change, as their ability to store carbon has not diminished in almost 150 years, data shows.
Cornwall AONB, and Dartmoor and Exmoor National Parks are already working in partnership with South West Water and the Environment Agency to deliver peat restoration for the South West Moors.
The UK has 13% of the world’s blanket bog – a type of peatland – and restoring such land will help reach the target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, as well as protecting valuable habitats and the biodiversity they support, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said.
Under the regulations, the burning of any specified vegetation on areas of deep peat – more than 40cm in depth – on a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) that is also a Special Area of Conservation or a Special Protection Area will be prevented.
The Moorland Association said heather-burning remains a “vital tool” in moorland management and Defra said the regulations will include some exemptions.
Licences can be issued for burning as a means of wildfire prevention, a conservation purpose or where land is inaccessible to cutting or mowing machinery, and the ban will not apply to steep or particularly rocky land.
Some environmental groups said the legislation does not go far enough and argued that all burning, which they called an “outdated and damaging” practice, should be banned.
Environment Secretary George Eustice, MP for Camborne and Redruth said: “We want to work with landowners to restore the natural hydrology of many of these sites through our new agricultural policy to support our ambitions for the environment.”