Doncaster Council has backed a ban on heather burning to save the region’s peat moors from being damaged for grouse shooting.
In a letter sent to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Mayor Ros Jones said that the environmentally-damaging practice, which is performed by shoot operators to engineer breeding habitat for red grouse, must end to help stop flooding in communities on the River Don.
It follows a voluntary approach to halting burning not proving successful, with grouse moors upstream in the Peak District continuing to set large fires on rare blanket bog during the last burning season, which ran from October to April.
Peatlands in the headwaters of the River Don contain important vegetation, such as sphagnum moss, which acts like a sponge to hold rainfall in the hills, which in turn prevents flooding. However, when burning is conducted the sensitive mosses are damaged, leading to large amounts of rainfall being channelled downstream.
Ros Jones, Mayor of Doncaster, has written to the Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Environment, Rebecca Pow MP, ahead of grouse shooting season opening on 12 August. She said:
“Doncaster was severely impacted by flooding of the river Don in November 2019, the headwaters of which are situated in Pennine peatland, including within the Peak District National Park. We therefore have a clear stake in the state of the uplands peat environment around the headwaters of the river Don, the health of which has a direct impact on the citizens of Doncaster.
We expect therefore that Doncaster’s interests are best served by the proper restoration of upland peat areas, and as indications are that this would not involve managed burning, we would be expecting DEFRA to follow through on their commitment.”.
The call for action comes just weeks ahead of the grouse shooting season opening on the ‘Glorious Twelfth’ of August, although burning does not start again until the Autumn. Campaigners believe any future burning can be stopped by government intervention, with Defra having already committed to introducing legislation.
During the last burning season, Ban Bloodsports on Yorkshire’s Moors, which monitors ecological damage on grouse moors, compiled more than 550 reports of peatlands being burnt by shoot operators across the county. This includes several in the Peak District which had previously told the government that they would stop.
Almost three quarters of peatlands in England are already damaged or degraded, Natural England has revealed, with burning being a key driver.
Subsequently, the Committee on Climate Change, which advises the government on environmental action, recommended the practice be banned to protect peatlands from further damage.
Luke Steele, Spokesperson for Ban Bloodsports on Yorkshire’s Moors, said:
“It’s past time to put an end to the burning of rare peatlands for grouse shooting — a practice which degrades fragile ecosystems, releases climate-altering gasses into the atmosphere and worsens flooding in communities downstream from grouse moors like those in Doncaster.
With burning continuing on grouse moors across Yorkshire, we commend Doncaster Council for giving its support for a burning ban to help save the region’s peatlands from further damage and protect communities from flooding.”
– ENDS –
This great. Well done Doncaster Council. Another small step towards banning driven grouse shooting as well as returning OUR moorlands to what they should be after the gross mistreatment by the shooters who like shooting our wildlife for fun.
Mind you, I think DEFRAs statement that they intend to introduce legislation to stop burning of our moorlands is pretty well worthless. Knowing this Government such legislation might happen by 2030 or 2040 if we are lucky. (But Hopefully this Government wont be around then)
Excellent. Well done Doncaster. Other affected councils need to follow this lead.
Brilliant stuff…if only the RSPB and others were more proactive in taking this issue to the public – what happens in the uplands, often with their money – effects you, sometimes drastically. I wonder how far Doncaster Council will go explaining their stance to their public. I hope that as well as changes to the existing ‘management’ of grouse moors to prevent flooding the scope to do so is dramatically expanded by also looking at targeted tree planting, woody material in waterways and the possible return of the beaver (have I ever mentioned this?). Nobody has really done this yet, but I can’t see why not if we’re looking to keep as many homes and businesses as possible dry. Seems a rational progression from banning burning https://www.wildtrout.org/assets/files/news/Holding%20back%20the%20waters.pdf
“We are aware that the debate on driven grouse shooting and managed peat burning has become politicised, some seeing criticism of grouse estate management as an attack on rural communities
and businesses. We would prefer that independent and validated scientific evidence took precedence to the lobbying of interest groups when making policy.”
Ros Jones, Mayor of Doncaster
Steve – and your point is?
Isn’t Ban Bloodsports on Yorkshire’s Moors an ‘interest group’?
Steve – what isn’t? Isn’t BASC an interest group? Have you seen the letter they are sending around local councils? Is the RSPB an interest group, in that it is a group of people who are interested in some of the same things?
Luckily, I am not an interest group – I’m just me.
But there is nothing wrong with politicising things, is there? Politics in a democratic country is about delivering the will of the people in a rather complicated and often unsatisfactory way. But we should all be more political, not less.
Well Done Doncaster Council,let’s hope more Councils take this onboard,and draw the line at this Blatant Trashing of Our Uplands.