North coast wildfire fuelled by rank heather due to lack of traditional muirburn, says Bettyhill grazings clerk
A NORTH grazings clerk has claimed that the “abandonment” of the practice of controlled muirburn was one of the factors that allowed the Melvich and Strathy wildfire earlier this year to spread over such a wide area.
Chartered engineer and crofter Michael Mackay, who is clerk to Bettyhill Grazings Committee, said the downturn in muirburn - following the introduction of stringent new procedures and legislation - meant there were no breaks to stop the fire but instead large areas of “long rank heather” which only served to fuel it.
And he has hit out at environmentalists whom he claims have lumbered crofters and other land managers with “draconian legislation” that is “destroying our environment and not protecting it”.
He is now suggesting that the way forward would be to repeal at least 96 per cent of environmental legislation.
The Melvich and Strathy wildfire burned for around six days and affected more than 5000 hectares of internationally important peatland. It also came close to encroaching on houses.
Crews from Thurso, Wick, Dunbeath, Kinlochbervie and Tongue were among those called out.
Helicopters water-bombed hot spots and smoke could be seen from miles away.
Mr Mackay was prompted to speak out after reading a recent front page report in the Northern Times.
The report highlighted analysis commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund which found the fire could have released an amount of carbon into the atmosphere equivalent to six days’ worth of Scotland’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
Gina Hanrahan, head of policy for WWF Scotland was quoted as saying: “How we manage and care for our peatlands influences their effect on climate change, as well as fire risk and how the habitat responds, so protecting and restoring peatlands needs to be a vital part of our response to both the climate and nature crises.”
Mr Mackay has slammed the WWF analysis as as much “sensationalism as science”.
“Compared with other countries, such as China, the CO2 release is still insignificant,” he said.
He recalls growing up in the 1950s and 1960s when muirburn - or the burning of relatively small patches of heather some 6”-8” in height - was commonplace.
The practice is widely perceived as having mainly been undertaken by sporting estates to encourage a grouse population but, says Mr Mackay, it was just as important to crofters who engaged in controlled burning to benefit the environment and their livelihood.
He said: “In the past crofters would often set muirburn fires while working at the peats in May or June.
“The longer heather and old grasses would burn until stopped naturally by previous muirburn, leaving fresh growth that was of benefit to the crofters’ livestock and the wildlife.
“If a ground nesting bird’s nest was regrettably burnt, then at that time the birds would simply fly away and nest somewhere nearby within their normal range.
“If not, there were still plenty of their kind to propogate the species.
“We had an abundant and diverse flora and fauna. That was the result of many generations of small scale regular muirburn of relatively small patches, along with grazing to appropriate stocking levels.
“I was fortunate to grow up with a father who was extremely knowledgeable about plants and wildlife. Our regular hill sheep gathering expeditions always included observing plants, animals and birds.
“My father would regularly point his walking stick at a plant and discuss its rarity or importance.
“But to my great disappointment we have lost so much of it - why? Because of environmentalist interference.”
The Muirburn Code, updated in 2009 and again in 2011 dictates the amount of land that can be burned and requires occupiers of land within 1km of the site to be notified in writing as well as the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
The requirements have proved too onerous with the result, according to Mr Mackay, that muirburn has all but been totally abandoned.
“We are now in a situation where the crofters are afraid to carry out any muirburn due to the totally inappropriate laws and the procedures demanded,” he said. “Consequently there are no longer natural firebreaks.
“The end result is extremely large areas of long, rank heather, which amounts to fuel.
“The well known triangle that results in fire or explosion - namely fuel combined with air and an ignition source is just waiting to occur.
"Wildfires are inevitable if the fuel source is uncontrolled. An ignition source will inevitably occur whether natural or deliberate.
“The only way to prevent wildfires is to eliminate the fuel source and that means either physically cutting the heather, which is impractical, or proper regular muirburn of small areas at a time.”
Mr Mackay added: “Conservation is not about stopping traditional practices; conservation is all about the sensitive continuation of those traditional practices that have preserved the diverse flora and fauna of the northern Highlands for those aeons."
He said the grazings committee could not condone any breach of the law - even if it was a bad law.
“I am asking the scientists to work with us, to desist from their academic arrogance including lobbying for more of those draconian laws,” he said.
“You cannot freeze the landscape at any point in time.
"The landscape will not freeze. It is is dynamic and will continue to grow - mainly to rank long heather, whin (gorse - an introduced species) and the poisonous bracken, if not properly managed.”
