England - Moorland Burning Working Group - 19 April

I attended this 25th meeting of the Group and as always it produced some lively discussion.

Martyn Howat, the former uplands director for Natural England, had chaired all previous meetings, but following his retirement in December, a new chairman, Tim Hill, was introduced and this was his first meeting. It was something akin to being thrown into a cock pit!

One of the key issues for discussion at the meeting was how to select an appropriate burning rotation. The tension was highlighted between the perceived desire by conservation interests to adopt a longer term rotation compared with the pressures on moorland owners to maximise the production of their heather for grazing and grouse benefits, which moved them to favour a shorter rotation.  It was also noted that generally young heather regenerates better after burning than old heather. Young heather is able to regenerate from stems, whereas the old heather has to rely on regeneration from seed which takes longer and is less certain.

The Moorland Association will be producing a list of factors to be considered when determining the burning rotation and this will be discussed at the next meeting. Progress of the Group is slow, but reasonably certain, and there have been many achievements in the 25 meetings.

An interesting scientific comment came out of the meeting that "Pyro-diversity begets bio-diversity" and this provides weight to the argument that burning is good for many interests, not just grouse production.

 I presented the report that we have published recently "Heather And beetle: a review" (see post 14 April) and I presented the draft Guidance Note that I had prepared that is intended for theDefra website to support the Heather and Grass Burning Code.  Further revision will be needed but I hope we can get to a finished article soon.

The Group next meets in July at Bolton Abbey and the meeting will include a site visit. This is always an advantage as it allows practical issues to be considered as well as the theory.

Board Meeting - 16 April

The Board received the usual financial and activity updates but discussion of several key issues took place.  This included the impact of sheep ticks and how there might be benefit from encouraging funding to be made available through the National Rural Development Plans. If there was a contribution to the cost, land owners and managers might be more willing to establish tick mop schemes that would help to control tick numbers.  This proposal will be put to Scotland's Moorland Forum as part of the Upland Solutions project.

Another issue was the possibility of appointing ambassadors, or champions, in different parts of the country to be aware of and promote the work of the Trust within their group of contacts and areas of interest. This is something we will try to put in place in due course, but I would welcome any offers from people with an interest in our work.

The proposal to hold a series of conferences / events in different parts of the country was endorsed by the Board and the outcome of the Carbon in the Uplands conference held on 20-21 April would provide valuable experience of how these events can be run and the benefits that can accrue from them.

Initial proposals for a venue for the AGM were discussed and it is possible that this will be held in Scotland, in September / October.

A full report will be prepared for the Board in July, but the next meeting will not take place until just before the AGM.

Scotland - Community Right to Buy

A recent press release from the Scottish Government summarises the statistics about this measure. This is an extract from the press release:

"The Community right to buy in Part 2 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 provides the opportunity for community bodies representing rural areas in Scotland with less than 10,00 head of population to register an interest in and buy that registered land once it is offered for sale. It provides community Bodies with a pre-emptive right to buy the land in which they have registered a community interest.


Community bodies have so far registered an interest in land including fields, woodlands and a range of other assets such as buildings, such as churches, a school and a community interest. The right to buy requires a willing seller. A community may in fact register its community interest and that land not come up for sale. A registration continues for five years and community bodies have the opportunity to re-register that interest. The first communities to extend their interest will do so in late 2009.

Statistics on the community right to buy are:

• There have been 113 registrations of which 79 (or 70.5 per cent) have been approved by Scottish Ministers
• To date 23 applications have had the chance to go ahead and purchase land. Of these 7 have been successful and a further 2 were concluded outwith the Act. A further one is currently concluding the transfer of land
• Of the applications approved by Ministers, the right to buy has been triggered on 27 applications (24 per cent)"

This was always going to be a controversial issue and perhaps the most important point is where the money to complete the purchases has come from.  Is this unnecessary social engineering using tax payers money or a useful means to achieve change and empower local communities?

Heather Beetle: a review

I am pleased to announce the publication of this report (Heather Beetle: a review) from the School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, which I expect to be of widespread interest.

It remains my view that the threat to heather posed by this beetle is under-estimated.  The Trust commissioned this review to bring together the existing knowledge about this pest of heather.

We need to plug the gaps in our knowledge about the drivers of the heather beetle population and what are the causes of the large scale population blooms.  Next, we need to know how to manage heather to reduce the risk of a heather beetle outbreak in the first place, and then how to best manage the heather to regenerate it after a large scale attack.

There is no doubt that the beetle is present on virtually all heather moorland, but it is when the population blooms to cause a large scale outbreak that it starts to cause significant damage and economic loss that can be so devastating to all interests in heather moorland. We do not know what causes this.

I am grateful to the author Angus Rosenburgh, and to our President, Prof Rob Marrs, who supervised the work, for producing such a useful report.  It serves to provide a useful summary of our knowledge but it also highlights the gaps, which I will continue to campaign to fill.

Heather beetle is seen as a low grade threat to heather moorland in many quarters, but with the uncertainties surrounding the effects that climate change will have on moorland ecosystems, can we afford this complacency?  Looking over a moor that has suffered a large scale attack, such as Langholm Moor in 2009, the risk to heather, and all the species that depend on it, seems to be much greater.

Land Use Futures: Making the most of land in the 21st century

The final report from the Foresight Land Use futures Project has been published.  It is a meaty read but covers a lot of ground that is relevant to the debate about future land use that includes moorland and upland areas of the UK.

Phytophthora Ramorum / Kernoviae

You will be forgiven if your eyes glaze over at the title of this post. (For pronunciation try 'fytoffthora').   However, potentially this disease, also called Sudden Oak Death, could be a major threat to heathland habitats.  Fera ( The Food and Environment Research Agency)  provides more information about the disease and a Fact sheet on its website.

A Review Paper has just been published which provides a summary of the activity in England and Wales since the disease was first identified in Cornwall in 2002. Principally, the disease outbreaks have been confined to woodlands, nurseries and ornamental gardens, such as run by the National Trust, but there have also been some worrying outbreaks in the wild (261 cases out of 904 reported), and it appears likely that   Bilberry Vaccinium myrtillis can act as a host for the disease.    For obvious reasons, it is this latter issue that is focusing my attention.

The other main host is Rhododendron and control has involved the eradication of Rhododendron from the disease site and the surrounding area.  This in itself can have some benefits, but the large areas of wild Rhododendron, particularly on the west coast of Scotland, could prove to be a major harbour for this disease, if it cuts loose.

There is not much to be done at the moment, but this is an issue to monitor.

Tick Prevention Week: 12-18 April 2010

This event is organised by Borreliosis and Associated Diseases Awareness UK (BADA-UK) and more details can be found on their website.


The lack of awareness about tick borne diseases is a major threat to human health.  Will it take a 'celebrity' to go down with Lyme disease before funds are allocated to promote this health risk?

England's Peatlands: Carbon storage and greenhouse gases

Natural England has published a report (NE257) England's Peatlands: Carbon storage and greenhouse gases - a copy can be downloaded from the Natural England website.

The Report provides useful information & background, it is rather one sided, amongst other things:

• it makes no reference to the benefits for other species of grouse moor management
• it appears to discredit the Heather & Grass Burning Regulations and Code
• management input appears to be viewed as completely negative
• it does not address wildfire issues, the risks associated with rank vegetation or the risk reduction benefits offered by prescribed burning
• there is no reference to the need to work with land owners and managers, apart from the still rather confusing message about the potential of carbon trading to provide income
• it does not address the economic importance of the uplands & the support they provide for communities

There is scope to use this Report as a basis for discussion and I am hoping that the heather burning issues can be discussed at the next meeting of the Moorland Burning Working Group that takes place later this month.

Country Market & Sporting Sale

With thanks to all our donors, supporters and promoters, I am delighted to report that the Catalogue for this year's Sale has now been published. As always, we have a vast range of lots to suit every budget and interest and I hope that those who receive a catalogue will enjoy reading it.  If you have not received one but would like to see it, please contact us and I will be delighted to send you a copy, but alternatively it is available on the website as a download.

We are happy to receive Bids by any means and the closing date is 12 noon on Friday, 7 May.

IUCN Peatland Programme

I was delighted to be invited to join the Advisory Group for this important Programme and  I attended the Scottish Launch in Edinburgh  on 24 March, which was attended by Richard Lochhead, the Cabinet Secretary.  A similar event took place in London on 31 March.
The Programme's website describes its purpose:
The IUCN UK Peatland Program was established in 2009 to promote peatland restoration in the UK.   A three-year programme of work has been developed to provide a "conservation quartet" consisting of partnerships, strong science, sound policy and effective practice. An overarching theme for this work is the promotion of the multiple benefits of peatlands to society.
The programme will:

• Provide a focus for the wide range of expertise and work in peat and research  and management to provide credible, relevant and consistent messages for decision-makers
•  facilitate consensus building and knowledge exchange in the UK, with links to international work
•  highlight the benefits and values of peatland ecosystem services to help encourage sound policy and funding for peatlands
•  demonstrate and promote best practice in peatland management

 (IUCN is the International Union for Conservation of Nature and it helps the world to find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges)

Scotland: Snaring legislation

The changes to the snaring legislation came into effect in Scotland on 11 March.  All involved directly or indirectly with snaring should make themselves aware of the changes to the law which cover such issues as:

• the requirement for all snares to be fitted with stops
• all snares to be checked every 24 hrs
• all snares to be free running and this is to be confirmed at the 24hr check
• snares must be properly fixed to prevent them being dragged
• snares should not be set near features that could lead to animals being fully or partially suspended or drowned.

For further guidance see the practitioners guide that can be downloaded from the Scottish Government's website.  This guide was produced by the industry and we had some input to it.

BASC Scotland, the Scottish Gamekeepers Association and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust have collaborated to produce and provide training in the use of snares in Scotland.  Each of the organisations will be conducting a half-day training course, costing £45, that will include theoretical and practical assessments. For more information and to book contact the BASC Scotland Office on 01350 723226.

I hope that everyone involved with snaring will embrace the guidance to make sure that they stay within the law.  There is little doubt that snaring will remain under the political microscope and if the industry cannot be seen to be carrying out snaring within the law there is every chance that our ability to use snaring as a valid management tool will be under threat.

Snaring is an essential part of best practice moorland management and the Trust supports its use fully.  This legislative change comes hard on the heels of the Waders on the fringe report, which emphasises the need to be able to control ground predators such as foxes, stoats & weasels.

'Waders on the fringe'

This is the final report from the nine years of work at Otterburn that everyone with an interest in upland management should read.  GWCT are to be applauded for this work and this report.

The report and the facts speak for themselves - the negative impact that predators have on upland breeding bird populations is very clear.

I suppose this leaves us with a choice.  What do we want for our upland areas?  Are we content to leave nature to itself when the evidence from this report is that this will lead to the decline or loss of upland birds species from vast tracts of the uplands?  Or do we want to apply some management, that is funded from private sources, to allow control of predator populations and let the other species survive.  No-one is talking about extermination of predators, management of their numbers is being recommended to give other species a chance.

One of the Trust's former Chairman was quoted as saying "In the world of conservation, it is necessary to manage the successes as well as the failures."  This still holds true.  To bury our heads in the sand and let nature run its own course in the uplands will result in a very different balance of habitat, bird and other species?  I do not believe that we are ready to accept the changes in our uplands and decline of important species and therefore I believe completely that predator management is an integral part of best practice upland management.

What do you think?

'Carbon in the Uplands: Threats & Opportunities' Conference

We have joined forces with the Southern Uplands Partnership and the Crichton Carbon Centre, Dumfries to stage this conference that is aimed at demystifying the issues that surround carbon in the uplands for the benefit of landowners and land managers.

The conference will start at lunchtime on 20 April and finish at tea time on 21 April and it is based on the Moffat House Hotel in the centre of Moffat.

Full details are contained in the flyer that can be downloaded here.  The first session, on 20 April, will be a workshop run by the Sustainable Uplands project team, that forms part of the Rural Economy & Land Use (RELU) programme run by Defra.  I have been part of this project from the beginning and the report of its work has now been published (see the earlier Blog article - 3 March).  The second day of the conference will see several presentations followed by some targeted workshops that we hope will provide some light in the darkness that surrounds carbon issues.

Our recent experience with Scotland's Moorland Forum and the Upland Solutions project has shown that there is a lack of awareness and understanding about carbon within the land management community and I hope that this conference will help to alleviate this.

Sustainable Uplands Project - Call to pay farmers for managing uplands

I have supported the Sustainable Uplands Project that has seen a collaboration of Universities (including Leeds, Aberdeen & Durham) take an academic view of the management of the uplands which has been funded by Defra's Rural Economy & Land Use (RELU) Programme .  The work is now being published and has received a range of press coverage over the last few days.  See the articles in:  The Scotsman, The Yorkshire Post, The Press & Journal and Bioscience Technology.

Is this approach possible and would you support it?

This project will also be featuring as part of the Carbon in the Uplands conference that I am organising with the Southern Uplands Partnership and the Crichton Carbon Centre, Dumfries that will be held in Moffat 20-21 April 2010.  More details will follow.

English & Welsh Wildfire Forum

I attended what was almost an inaugural meeting of this Forum on 23 - 24 February in Northumberland.

The Forum had been established by Essex Fire & Rescue Service (FRS), almost as an offshoot to the Scottish Wildfire Forum(SWF) (of which I am also a member) but progress had faltered.  Northumberland FRS have now taken over and this was the first meeting under their management.   One of the outcomes was that the Forum should encompass Welsh interests and would be referred to as the English & Welsh Wildfire Forum - it remains to be seen whether this will introduce any tensions into the management of the Forum.

I think it important that the Trust has an input to this Forum.  Land management interests are represented by the Moorland Association and the Country Land & Business Association but I think our overview, our links to the SWF and links to other parts of England & Wales means that we can add Heineken value - 'reach the parts that others cannot reach'.

Other important role for the Trust is to provide a link to (prescribed) heather burning.  My involvement with the Moorland Burning Working Group in England is important here and the FRS view that all fire is bad needs to be diluted with experience of using fire as a management tool.

I hope that this reinvention of the Wildfire Forum will be successful.  I believe it has an important role to play.

Moorland Association - Upland Policy Guide

I was pleased to be invited to attend the launch of the Upland Policy Guide in London on 22 February.  I had some input into the draft document along with 5 other organisations.  The Guide provides 21 recommendations about how the next Government should improve policy to safeguard and extend integrated grouse moor management.  Amongst other issues, the recommendations cover:

• regeneration of heather moorland (703 sq mls has been lost);
• land owners and managers should work closely together to achieve an agreed plan with minimal burden and cost on government agencies;
• predator control should be carried out to boost declining bird populations; and
• heather must be managed.

What do you think about this document?  Has it missed anything?

Scotland: Land Use Strategy

The ground breaking Land Use Strategy, which is a requirement under the Climate Change legislation, is reaching the Discussion Workshop phase.  Details of the workshops that will be held around the country are now available on the website.  This is an important process and all those with an interest in the use of land in Scotland should consider contributing to it.  


Not surprisingly, I am concerned that the moorlands &  uplands get a fair representation.  I maintain that there is a policy gap that is in danger of leaving the upland areas without sufficient protection from competing land uses.  Within Scotland's Moorland Forum, we are considering the development of a document to plug this policy gap and this will feed into the Land use strategy process.


Is there enough protection for our moorland and upland areas or are we in danger of losing these areas to other land uses?  The expansion of the upland forestry to meet the governments aspiration to increase the amount of cover from 17% to 25% is a threat.  FCS are currently projecting the use of up to 10% of the existing heather ground for this purpose.  Does this make sense?

Scotland's Moorland Forum - Upland Solutions project

With the support of members of the Forum, we have been developing the Upland Solutions project which seeks to work with people on the ground in two study areas (Muirkirk & Upper Findhorn).  The Forum seeks to establish people's views about the opportunities for their areas in two workshops.  The Forum will contribute to the discussions and apply the experience that the 30 member organisations can provide.  We also hope to identify any blockages to progress and we will report the findings to contributors, other people in the areas, agencies and government.

The workshops will be held in the Muirkirk area on 25 February and in the Upper Findhorn area on 4 March.  More details are available to download from the Moorland Forum website.

Scotland's Wild Places

A two-day conference and discussion forum on Scotland's Wild Places will take place on 13th and 14th May 2010 at the SNH Battleby Conference Centre.   The event is organised by the Centre for Mountain Studies in collaboration with Leeds University (Wild Land Research Institute),  Lochaber College,  Scottish Wild Land Group,  SNH,  the Cairngorms National Park Authority and the John Muir Trust.  More information from Scotland's National Rural Network site.

Scotland - Sheep Tagging

New details of how the scheme will be introduced and the funding that is on offer can be obtained from the SG website.

Whatever your views on Sheep tagging (EID) at least the measures are not being introduced without support.