Tag: muirburn

editorial

The Ban on Cool Burning is an Act of Faith, Not Science

CSM EDITORIAL The admission slips out with increasing regularity from those responsible for prohibiting rotational cool burning on England’s uplands. Yes, they concede, it may take years for rewetted land to reach a state where it is naturally protected from wildfire. The honesty is welcome, if somewhat late. What they omit is that any such transition remains entirely speculative. There is no evidence base demonstrating … Continue reading The Ban on Cool Burning is an Act of Faith, Not Science

countrysquiremagazine
International, Wildfires

Have Spain´s Wildfire Communities Already Been Forgotten?

BY ED ANDERSON If you were to step off at Manuela Malasaña metro in Móstoles in July, you´d be greeted by a typical Madrid satellite town. A Basic Fit here, a baking Plaza del Sol there and a smattering of bars that thankfully won´t be changing you 5 euros a caña. Mercifully, there is not an instagrammer in sight. However, hidden away here and in … Continue reading Have Spain´s Wildfire Communities Already Been Forgotten?

countrysquiremagazine1 Comment
countryside, Muirburn

The Burning Question

BY BERT BURNETT Why Gamekeepers Are Refusing to Endorse the New Muirburn Code Scotland’s gamekeepers have issued a stark warning: they will not endorse the Scottish Government’s new Muirburn Code, a decision they claim is born not of defiance, but of a desperate need to prevent catastrophic wildfires. They argue that the new regulations, designed to protect peatlands, will ironically create a tinderbox, stripping them … Continue reading The Burning Question

countrysquiremagazine
countryside

The Great Peatland Con

BY BERT BURNETT Peatlands have become a hot topic in recent years, hailed as vital carbon sinks and biodiversity hotspots. Yet, behind the well-meaning rhetoric of conservation and rewilding lies a more complex story—one of financial incentives, natural processes, fire risk, and the often-overlooked role of traditional land management. While the protection of peatlands is undeniably important, it is equally crucial to question whether the … Continue reading The Great Peatland Con

countrysquiremagazine
countryside, Press Releases

Future Landscapes Forum

Scientists and practitioners criticise ‘dangerous’ attempts to ban controlled burning on heather moors. A group of prominent scientists and practitioners have said there is ‘no clear scientific consensus to support a blanket ban against controlled vegetation burning on heather moorland’ and that ‘policy decisions are being influenced by special interest groups who regularly ignore or distort evidence in order to outlaw the practice’. The Future … Continue reading Future Landscapes Forum

countrysquiremagazine
Forestry, Muirburn

Portugal’s Prescribed Burning Journey

BY PAULO FERNANDES Prescribed burning has been going on for nearly five decades in Portugal. It was in the mid-70s that the pioneer José Moreira da Silva conducted the first forest service trials in the pine forests of the northwest of the country. In 1982, da Silva designed the first regional prescribed fire program in southern Europe. The concurrent scientific research assessed the ecological impacts … Continue reading Portugal’s Prescribed Burning Journey

countrysquiremagazine
countryside

Cool Burning

BY JOHN NASH Australia experienced a terrifying Black Summer in 2019/20, when massive bush fires burned some 35 million acres, destroyed an estimated 3 billion vertebrates (perhaps driving a number to extinction), wrecked scores of irreplaceable rock paintings, wiped out 3000 buildings and, sadly, 47 people died. The tragedy may have cost Australia as much as A$80 billion. Now research has revealed the cause of … Continue reading Cool Burning

countrysquiremagazine
countryside

Why Do the RSPB Feel the Need to Lie about Fire Management?

BY BERT BURNETT The RSPB only ten years ago were practising this technique and they know its benefits for wildlife and fire mitigation but they have chosen to ignore what they know and use this fire management as a club to attack the shooting industry with. According to them fire is only destructive when carried out by gamekeepers and other upland managers. They have even … Continue reading Why Do the RSPB Feel the Need to Lie about Fire Management?

countrysquiremagazine
countryside

A Burning Issue

BY JOHN NASH Country Squire readers will recall Australia’s terrifying Black Summer, 2019/20, when massive bush fires burned some 35 million acres, destroyed an estimated 3 billion vertebrates (perhaps driving a number to extinction), wrecked scores of irreplaceable rock paintings, wiped out 3000 buildings and, sadly, 47 people died. The tragedy may have cost Australia as much as A$80 billion. Now research has revealed the … Continue reading A Burning Issue

countrysquiremagazine
countryside

COP 26, Muirburn & Packham’s Odd Little Moment

BY DAVID EYLES In the closing days of the COP26 gathering of World leaders in Glasgow last month, the deliberations of our political masters were assessed by BBC Presenter Chris Packham in this video. Clearly, Mr Packham is disappointed with the results that emerged from the great and the good, who collected in their fleets of private planes and limousines. In many ways, we cannot … Continue reading COP 26, Muirburn & Packham’s Odd Little Moment

countrysquiremagazine