Heather and Grass Burning Regulations Review
December 2005
Covering Note
The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) was grateful to be consulted by DEFRA over the future of the Heather and Grass Burning Regulations and the Heather and Grass Burning Code. The English Uplands are of major importance to game conservation and particularly to grouse shooting, so it is important to ensure that burning policy and practice take these wider needs into account.
Most upland gamekeepers in England are members of the NGO Moorland Branch and this response has been carefully prepared by branch representatives with direct and extensive experience of moorland management issues. As requested, the bulk of the response is contained in the Word template for responses made available by Defra. This covering note includes some important general observations.
The NGO Moorland Branch has already been involved in the Burning Group working on the Heather and Grass Burning Code but we would be happy to meet with DEFRA officials again on this subject, or indeed to elaborate on the following comments in any other way.
General Comments
Active management of the English uplands for red grouse shooting is a vitally important economic activity in these otherwise Less Favoured Areas
It is also vital to understand that the environmental impacts of grouse shooting are almost always positive[1].
The regular and controlled burning of heather to ensure a mixed all-age structure has been a fundamental aspect of grouse moor management for many decades. It has been a major factor in creating the English uplands as we know them today and in preserving the biodiversity for which these man-made habitats are universally and rightly valued.
The Countryside Survey conducted by the Game Conservancy Trust shows a clear benefit for ground-nesting wading birds such as curlew and golden plover arising from correct heather burning practice[2]. This is supported by the research projects conducted by Robson and Whittingham.
It follows that the Government needs to be very careful to ensure that its policy for heather burning is sympathetic to grouse moor management. It would be counter productive – and even illegal under EU law[3] - to change the heather burning regime in ways damaging to the environment of the English uplands.
[1] English Nature, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and The Game Conservancy Trust have all acknowledged that the unique heather moorlands of Britain, with their internationally important populations of wading birds and other wildlife, are largely dependent on management for grouse shooting.
[2] GCT Countryside Survey; ‘Nature’s Gain’ and several scientific papers in prep or in press. Contact GCT for details.
[3] Both the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive require member states not to do anything which damages the environment in Special Protection Areas and to undertake Environmental Impact Assessments as appropriate.