Peatland – the fire risk

Fires like this one - and there have been others recently - happen when good weather, particularly dry, easterly winds, dries up the vegetation creating a fuel hazard, making malicious or accidental fires much more likely to occur.

Climate change predictions are for warmer, drier conditions which will lead to stronger, less predictable winds and more drying up of the soil surface. At this time, it is worth considering the importance of our peatlands, upland and heathland habitats, highlight the damage uncontrolled burning can have and make a plea for support for sustainable management and restoration of peatlands.  

Importance of peatlands

Peatlands are a hugely important part of our landscape and natural environment. They cover an estimated 18% of Northern Ireland’s land area ranging from raised bogs pocketed throughout lowland areas, blanket bogs cloaking the uplands, and a wide diversity of fen habitat types. We have a relatively high area of blanket bog/peatland relative to other agricultural soils, so peatlands play an important role in climate regulation. They are an important carbon sink, they store carbon better than trees and overall peatland is our most stable, long-term land-based carbon storage resource. Peatlands will play a key role in addressing the challenge of climate change. Bogs and peatlands have a complex and very special ecology-they support a range of highly specific and unique plants, animals and birds. They are a sanctuary for internationally rare and threatened species. Most of our domestic water is collected from catchments in upland areas. The vegetation and peatland surrounding these reservoirs play an important role in regulating the quality and security of supply.

Peatland landscapes are also culturally significant providing a sense of place and their depths represent an important historical archive stretching back millennia. They underpin a vital hill and upland farming community and culture that is necessary to provide the management required to make peatlands the environmental asset they are or can be.

Threats to our peatlands

The main components of our peatland vegetation are the Sphagnum mosses that the peat grows from, grasses, sedges and woody shrubs - mainly heather. As would be expected, after prolonged dry periods, this vegetation becomes a high fire risk, particularly if there had been a build-up of dead grasses, gorse and tall, woody heather. Peatlands are more susceptible to wildfire when they are in to poor condition resulting from inappropriate management. Many upland areas have a cover of gorse which builds up a dry litter layer which is extremely susceptible to fire. This fire can then easily spread to surrounding peatland.

Many wildfires occurring on our peatlands and upland habitats at this time are deliberate and we would ask farmers and the public to be vigilant. Wildfires create huge environmental damage that will take many years to recover. An uncontrolled, unexpected fire on peatland can quickly get out of control creating a high temperature burn that destroys much of the fragile and all-important plant cover. In many cases, the very specialist bog species that are lost are replaced by more generalist, aggressive species that do not have the same impact on bog growth and diversity.

Sadly, most of our peatlands have suffered damage, are in poor condition and require sustainable management and restoration. Much of NI’s peatlands are no longer sequestering and storing carbon due to decades of unsustainable management practices, such as drainage and over - or under-grazing and air pollution and instead have become a significant net source of greenhouse gases. Widespread drainage, historical afforestation and adverse management has resulted in 88% of peatlands in NI showing signs of degradation. Degraded sites are more vulnerable to increasing carbon and biodiversity losses through the higher temperatures and drier summers associated with climate change.

Estimates indicate that NI’s degraded peatlands emit 170,500 tonnes of CO2 each year, and 223,200 tonnes of GHGs (in CO2 equivalent) in total. To put this in context, estimates by the Agri Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) are that agricultural grassland and soils in NI have the potential to sequester 1.2million tonnes of CO2 per year. It is easy to see why we should be very concerned when we hear of yet another gorse fire which has spread to uplands and peatlands.

Protection and management of peatlands

The management of peatlands to deliver these environmental benefits depends on maintaining the vegetation in an appropriate state. These are diverse, complex habitats requiring flexible management dependent on vegetation composition and condition. On the one hand we need a dense cover of heathland plants, mosses and grasses to keep the soil surface moist and cool, prevent loss of carbon and support a diversity of wildlife and clean water. On the other hand we don’t want an over-accumulation of vegetation with a high proportion of dead stalks and stems which shade out the range of delicate plants needing light and space and allow dry air and wind to fuel fires through the canopy. This may give us the opportunity to think about reviewing how such areas are grazed and when within environmental farming support schemes to reflect this climate-driven increase in risk and incidence of wildfires as well as delivering more wildlife, carbon storage and clean water.

Many of our most important peatlands have protection under law as they come under designations such as SAC (Special Area of Conservation) and ASSI (Area of Special Scientific Interest). On these areas, burning is prohibited and additional support measures are available for landowners to maintain them in favourable condition and encourage peat growth by carrying out procedures such as sustainable grazing and rewetting by appropriate damming or drain blocking.

From a farmer’s perspective

Under DAERA’s Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), only land actively farmed is eligible for payment and farmers are required to maintain this land in good environmental and agricultural condition for the forthcoming year. Land burned by wildfire would normally be classified as ineligible for BPS payments until the vegetation recovers.

If you have claimed for such areas you should reduce your claim to avoid penalties. If the fire was outside your control, it may be considered as a Force Majeure/Exceptional Circumstances (FM/EC) in certain circumstances and you need to seek an exemption from DAERA. In such cases, it is important that you report any wildfire to the PSNI or NI Fire and Rescue Service and obtain an incident number. This then needs to be reported to DAERA within 15 days of the incident and may be subject to inspection. You are also required to submit an application for FM/EC (Form FML 1) to Area-based Schemes Payment Branch, Orchard House.

From the general public’s perspective

Please show great care when you are out in the countryside - wildfires can start and get out of hand very easily and, from this article you can get some idea of the damage they do to the countryside generally, wildlife particularly and farmer’s livelihoods specifically.

With the dry weather we have been having be particularly vigilant. If you see a fire report it immediately to the PSNI or NI Fire and Rescue Service.