Lord Ian Botham has criticised the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for its land management policies, which he says are increasing the risk of wildfires across the UK. Writing in a comment piece, Tim Newark argues that the government's commitment to rewilding, often against the advice of farmers and landscape experts, is making the countryside more vulnerable to fire during hot summers.
Government Policies Under Fire
Botham, a member of the House of Lords, last week blasted DEFRA for refusing to let land managers burn undergrowth to create fire breaks. This comes as the government sends phone alarms warning the public not to act recklessly, while its own green ideology is making wildfires more likely, according to Newark.
The 371-acre blaze on Dunwich Heath in Suffolk last month has been blamed directly on the RSPB allowing the area to become a tinderbox due to its rewilding agenda. By not clearing brushwood, the site provided fuel for an almost unstoppable fire storm. One resident claimed that if the wind had blown from a different direction, their village could have been engulfed.
Global Examples and Historical Warnings
Newark draws parallels with wildfires in Bordeaux, blamed on commercial pine planting without understanding that pine resin feeds fires. He notes that pine needles pile up beneath trees, providing perfect tinder, and advocates for mixed planting of broadleaf trees alongside conifers to make forests more resilient.
President Trump is quoted as blaming poor forest management for devastating wildfires in California. In Australia, mistakes were made by trying to return forests to their pristine, prehistoric state, when human intervention, especially by aboriginal groups, shaped the forest. Controlled burning has been used for centuries by native tribes in America and Australia.
Local Impacts and Calls for Change
Traditional heather moor burns remove old combustible vegetation to create natural fire breaks, but DEFRA has banned this in its drive towards rewilding. Reduced cattle and sheep grazing has also meant overgrown grass is more likely to catch fire. Massive fires at Saddleworth and Fylingdales are blamed on winter burns being blocked by Whitehall bureaucrats.
DEFRA was told in 2007 that stopping winter burns would heighten the risk of summer moorland wildfires, but they pressed on regardless, despite warnings from EU and US experts. Lord Botham believes it is also a thinly veiled excuse to clamp down on game shooting and the gamekeepers who maintain it.
The new winter burning season for moors and heaths should start on October 1st. Newark suggests that if Andy Burnham is keen on devolving power to the regions, he should allow regional countryside experts to reverse the ban and ignore the Whitehall Green fanatics who are doing more harm than good.
