A Critical Review of the IUCN UK Peatland Programme’s “Burning and Peatlands” Position Statement

Abstract

Despite substantial contrary evidence, there has been a growing tendency to present prescribed vegetation burning as a management practice that is always damaging to peatland ecosystems in the UK. This is exemplified by the “Burning and Peatlands” position statement published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature UK Peatland Programme. Indeed, while we strongly agree with several of the statements made within this position statement, it also contains a series of unverified assertions and misleading arguments that seemingly serve to simplify the narrative and paint prescribed burning as a wholly damaging peatland management tool. Given that this position statement is published by one of the UK’s most prominent peatland conservation organisations, it is likely to be consulted when debating upland land use policy. Therefore, for the benefit of policymakers, we provide a point-by-point critical review of the “Burning and Peatlands” position statement. We also discuss several further points for researchers and policymakers to consider that are consistently ignored by those attempting to simplify the narrative about prescribed burning. Our aim in producing this discussion paper is to encourage the research and policy community to move towards an evidence-based position about prescribed burning impacts on UK peatlands.

Prescribed Fire in UK Heather-Dominated Blanket Bog Peatlands: A Critical Review of “Carbon Storage and Sequestration by Habitat: A Review of the Evidence (Second Edition)” by Gregg et al., 2021

“…Firstly, the scientific evidence about the impacts of prescribed fire on blanket bogs is equivocal: it can have a positive, negative or neutral impact depending on the ecological aspect being assessed and the spatiotemporal context under which it is examined [5,6,33,[37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50]. This is no different to other widely accepted disturbance-based conservation interventions, such as grazing or mowing, which are damaging if employed too frequently, at the wrong scale or in the wrong area [51][52][53][54][55].…”

“…Gregg et al frequently refer to 'peat-forming' vegetation and state that, in the UK, Sphagnum species "are the main contributors to peat formation in bogs" (p. 99). The assumption that Sphagnum species are the primary 'peat-formers' within UK blanket bogs is not sup-ported by any causal evidence [6]. Rather, it seems to be based on circumstantial evidence, such as greater quantities of Sphagnum fragments found within peat core sections subject to rapid peat growth [85,86].…”

“…In the UK, prescribed fire is primarily used for grouse moor management. Consequently, it has become a contentious and controversial topic of debate in the public, academic and policymaking arena [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. In contrast, outside the UK, prescribed fire is considered a valuable habitat and vegetation management tool, especially for reducing fuel loads and, thereby, wildfire risk and damage [3][4][5][11][12][13].…”