Burning found in over half of conservation areas assessed
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| Peat bog wetland |
A new study led
by the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science has revealed the extent of moorland
burning across Britain’s upland areas. Burning on moorlands, a mixture of bog
and heath habitats, is widely used to increase the numbers of red grouse that
are available for recreational shooting.
Burning was
detected in 55 per cent of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and 63 per cent
of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) assessed in the study, and significantly
more burning took place within them than on comparable moorlands outside. These
sites are designated under EU legislation for their conservation importance,
and governments are charged with protecting them from damage and ensuring that
they are restored to the best condition. However, many SACs and SPAs are in
unfavourable condition, with burning identified by governments and statutory
agencies as a primary reason for this poor status.
Dr David
Douglas, Senior Conservation Scientist at RSPB Scotland and lead author of the
study said: “Upland ecosystems are highly sensitive to burning practices.
Knowing how much burning takes place and where is crucial to developing
sustainable land management policies for these precious environments.”
This study,
published in Biological Conservation, is the first time upland burning has been
mapped in detail across mainland Britain. Using aerial photography and
satellite images, 45,000 1-km squares were mapped across Scotland, England and
Wales, and revealed that burning occurred across 8551 of these squares. In the
ten year period covered by the study from 2001 to 2011, the number of burns
recorded increased rapidly by 11 per cent each year. Other studies have found
that the potential number of red grouse shooting days in some areas of Britain
has risen over a similar period, and moorland management has also intensified.
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| Red grouse |
In Scotland and
England, a third of burning took place on deep peat soils, an important carbon
store. The UK has 10-15 per cent of the world’s blanket bog peatlands. Locking
in 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon[1], this deep peat in the
uplands is the largest carbon store in the UK[2]. Upland areas are also a
vital water source, supplying around 70 per cent of our drinking water[3]. Burning has been linked to poor water quality in these areas,
requiring large sums of money to treat the water.
Martin Harper,
Director of Conservation at RSPB said: “Our uplands are amongst our most
precious habitats in Britain and home to important wildlife. However, many of
our uplands are in poor condition, due to intensive land management practices.
It’s very worrying that burning is increasing, given the damage it can cause
and that it occurs in many of our conservation areas.
“Governments and
statutory agencies across Britain need to take action to reduce burning in our
uplands rather than allowing them to be increasingly damaged year on
year. Although their regulations already advise against burning on
blanket bog it is often used on these areas with their consent. These
regulations need to be strongly enforced so that uplands are properly protected
against this damaging practice.”
[1] The amount of carbon stored in
the UK’s blanket bogs is detailed in the 2011 “IUCN UK Commission of Inquiry on
Peatlands.”
[2] The size of the UK’s blanket bog
as a carbon store is contain in the 2012 study “A GIS based MCE model for
identifying water colour generation potential in UK upland drinking water
supply catchments.”
[3] The
amount of UK drinking water from upland areas is detailed in the 2001 study
“Long term variation in water colour from Yorkshire catchments.”
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