Burning of moorland, particularly the newly-invented ‘restoration burning’ of blanket bogs will feature on Countryfile this evening.
The observations of burning of blanket bogs featured on this blog formed part of the dossier that was used by Guy Shrubsole and others and which will, I’m guessing, feature in the programme.
The blurb for the programme includes these words,
Joe discovers how last year’s moorland wildfires sparked a row that is raging on: how best to protect the vital reserves of blanket bog on our uplands.He finds out that this deep peat landscape has proved vital in soaking up water and reducing the risk of flooding, improving our air quality by storing carbon and providing a damp barrier to wildfire. But there are concerns that a land management technique known as rotational burning puts it at risk. So why isn’t more being done to stamp it out?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0002t
Countryfile is off the pace as usual when it comes to serious issues – the controversy over burning blanket bog goes back many years – here’s a blog from 2012 for starters!
For background to burning blanket bogs see this week’s post Warm words on burning. I’m sure that the NE position would have come out anyway and that in no way was it accelerated because the subject was going to be on BBC1.
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Better late than never – and by Countryfile standards this is quite gritty stuff.
The pressure is mounting from all sides and the chickens are coming home to roost for the CA’s aggressive opposition to any sort of change. We are surely well past the point where grouse shooting can do anything effective to save itself.
To me the segment came over as essentially saying there’s nothing good about burning and it doesn’t really look as if landowners can be trusted to abide by any voluntary code. And there was still so much more that could have been said – how juniper and other fire sensitive plants are burnt off the hills, reptiles being incinerated, the lowering of water quality impoverishing aquatic. Fire just isn’t a regular, natural element of the UK uplands no matter how long Muir burn has been carried out by people. The recent spate of fires that ran away from the control of estate staff and required the fire service to be called out on Yorkshire grouse moors will rather undermine their argument muirburn reduces fire risk! There’ll be quite a few persons in tweed who are none too happy tonight, all it took was balanced reporting.