UK Government consults on heather and grass burning across England’s uplands

Peatlands are vital ecosystems, that are home to nature and play a crucial role in our efforts to tackle climate change. They account for 12% of the UK’s land area and contain more carbon (mostly stored as peat) than the forests of the UK, France and Germany combined – an estimated 3,200 million tonnes. The UK’s upland blanket bogs and wet heaths are globally rare ecosystems, protected under UK and international law. Despite their protection, they are in a poor state.  

At a time when action on the climate and nature is essential, healthy and wet peatlands offer the golden opportunity to safely store carbon on a massive scale, slow the flow from the hills, and truly recover nature in precious landscapes. 

We think it’s clear – burning peat is not a good idea. UK peatlands should be in better health, and we support new proposals brought forward by the Government this week to extend the area of peat that is protected from burning.  

Across the uplands of northern and south west England, burning is regularly used to manage land. In the north this is often done on peatlands and is largely to support a single industry – grouse shooting. Moorland is burnt on shooting estates to encourage the growth of young heather on which Red Grouse feed. More widely, peatland habitats are also burnt to improve grazing for livestock. Over time, the repeated burning of peatland habitats removes the precious surface layers of peat-forming mosses, exposing the underlying peat which then dries out. Carbon is then lost to the atmosphere, and dry peat is blown away or washed into rivers. Water moves over burnt peatland more rapidly, which then contributes to downstream flooding of nearby communities. 

The damage has long been recognised. In May 2013, Natural England completed a review of evidence of the effects of managed burning on upland peatland biodiversity, carbon and water. In short, they concluded that burning vegetation on deep peat soils is preventing the recovery of the habitat and the species our protected sites are intended to look after. 

On 31 March 2025, Natural England published a further evidence review incorporating all the new research since 2013 – and concluded “repeated burning risks a sustained departure from the characteristic structure and function of these habitats.”  In other words, the scientific view in 2013 was that burning was damaging, and that remains the same.  

Years of campaigning by organisations, including the RSPB (supported by our members and supporters), eventually led to the Westminster Government introducing tighter regulations on burning in 2021. The Heather and Grass Burning England Regulations 2021 legally prohibit burning on peat over 40cm deep in a protected site (Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas) without a licence. This was a welcome step, but the law was flouted by some grouse moors, resulting in two prosecutions (see here and here). Over the last three burning seasons, over a quarter of the burns reported to the RSPB were believed to have been possible breaches of the regulations.  

It was clear that the law needed to be tightened further. After listening to the evidence, the Government has proposed doing just this, which is good news for nature and climate and shows our decision makers are taking this issue seriously. The new proposals would extend the area covered by the legislation from just protected areas to Less Favoured Areas (LFAs).  LFAs were introduced way back in 1975 as a way of identifying places around Europe where farming was marginal due to poorer land. The new proposal now includes all the English uplands and increases the area where burning may be prohibited.  

The definition of deep peat has also been changed from 40cm to 30cm, which again extends the area covered. Indeed, an extra 146,000 ha of deep peat habitat would be protected from burning. Deep peat will now be defined in England as being 30cm in depth or more. The Government is suggesting this cut off point will avoid confusion over shallower peaty soils that may or may not be “proper” peatlands.  However, as currently defined, it also excludes, by definition, rare habitats such as Northern Atlantic wet heath, that are also damaged by burning. In England there are only 145,000ha of wet heath, which makes it rarer than Blanket Bog.  

These proposals are another huge step in the right direction to properly protect our precious peatlands. The public consultation on the proposals runs until 25 May 2025 and you can help secure the right result. Please submit a response and help us protect our precious peatlands.