Grass moors burn biggest but heather hottest, study finds

Wildfires on grass-dominated moors burn far bigger than those on heather, but heather fires burn hottest, according to a peer-reviewed satellite study of 206 wildfires across England and Wales highlighted by the Moorland Association. The moorland wildfire findings land a week before the Twelfth, with fuel loads at the centre of the summer’s fire debate.

What did the satellite analysis find?

As reported by the association, fires on moorland dominated by Molinia, or purple moor-grass, averaged 169 hectares, roughly nine times the 19-hectare average on heather-dominated ground. Heather fires, though smaller, burned with the greatest severity of any moorland type in the study. Ground managed with controlled burning carried smaller wildfires than unmanaged ground.

Does peatland restoration reduce wildfire?

The finding with most bite for the current policy argument is that the analysis found no measurable reduction in wildfire size or severity on restored peatland. Rewetting has repeatedly been offered as the alternative to controlled burning; on this evidence, the association argues, restoration alone cannot be assumed to fireproof the hills while heavy fuel loads remain.

What does it mean for moorland management?

The association reads the study as support for the fuel-load management gamekeepers already deliver: controlled winter burning and cutting that keep vegetation loads down before summer droughts arrive. The findings follow its call this week for an independent review of wildfire risk on rewilded land after the Dunwich Heath fire, and a summer in which fires have burned on moorland and heathland across Britain.

What happens next?

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee’s wildfire inquiry continues to gather evidence, and Scotland’s muirburn licensing regime is due in force on 15 September, so the science of fuel and fire will stay at the centre of policy on both sides of the border. The association’s summary of the research, with the full findings, is on the Moorland Association website.