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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/27/moors-grouse-shooting-saddleworth-fire-sport-land
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| Clearing moors for grouse shooting creates a tinderbox | Clearing moors for grouse shooting creates a tinderbox |
| (about 14 hours later) | |
| What caused the Saddleworth Moor fire? The immediate reason, of course, is the peculiarly hot and dry conditions of the past few weeks. But that may not be the end of the story. Some types of vegetation are much more susceptible to fire than others, and the kind that prevails on Saddleworth Moor was an accident waiting to happen, a human-made tinderbox. | What caused the Saddleworth Moor fire? The immediate reason, of course, is the peculiarly hot and dry conditions of the past few weeks. But that may not be the end of the story. Some types of vegetation are much more susceptible to fire than others, and the kind that prevails on Saddleworth Moor was an accident waiting to happen, a human-made tinderbox. |
| As the environmental campaigner Guy Shrubsole says, the fire sites on the moor correlate closely with places managed for driven grouse shooting: the practice of sending large numbers of red grouse over the heads of people lying in shooting butts who pay – in some cases, thousands of pounds a day – for the privilege. In order to attract such fees, the moors are managed to maximise the number of grouse. This often involves draining boggy ground, and cutting and burning vegetation to maintain a monoculture of low heather. Such an artificial habitat often happens, as the Forestry Commission notes, to be highly susceptible to wildfires. | As the environmental campaigner Guy Shrubsole says, the fire sites on the moor correlate closely with places managed for driven grouse shooting: the practice of sending large numbers of red grouse over the heads of people lying in shooting butts who pay – in some cases, thousands of pounds a day – for the privilege. In order to attract such fees, the moors are managed to maximise the number of grouse. This often involves draining boggy ground, and cutting and burning vegetation to maintain a monoculture of low heather. Such an artificial habitat often happens, as the Forestry Commission notes, to be highly susceptible to wildfires. |
| Were the moors not drained and cleared for grouse shooting, the ground would be wetter and the heather monoculture replaced by a far richer set of habitats, dominated by woodland. As the great historian of the British countryside, Oliver Rackham, noted: “To get an English wood to burn, the trees have to be cut down, carried to a fire site, cut up, and densely stacked before a fire in one log will spread into the next.” But to get a grouse moor to burn, you need only a hot, dry summer. | Were the moors not drained and cleared for grouse shooting, the ground would be wetter and the heather monoculture replaced by a far richer set of habitats, dominated by woodland. As the great historian of the British countryside, Oliver Rackham, noted: “To get an English wood to burn, the trees have to be cut down, carried to a fire site, cut up, and densely stacked before a fire in one log will spread into the next.” But to get a grouse moor to burn, you need only a hot, dry summer. |
| We cannot yet say for certain, and I would like to see a public inquiry on the cause of this disaster. But it appears highly likely that the extent of the fires causing such trauma and damage is yet another outcome of this extraordinarily destructive “sport”. There is strong evidence linking driven grouse shooting to floods downstream, as the people of Hebden Bridge, blighted by repeated inundation, will testify; to the loss of soil carbon and the damage and drying out of peat. Managing grouse moors usually involves killing a wide range of predators. This includes, in many cases, the illegal massacre of species protected by law, such as hen harriers. | We cannot yet say for certain, and I would like to see a public inquiry on the cause of this disaster. But it appears highly likely that the extent of the fires causing such trauma and damage is yet another outcome of this extraordinarily destructive “sport”. There is strong evidence linking driven grouse shooting to floods downstream, as the people of Hebden Bridge, blighted by repeated inundation, will testify; to the loss of soil carbon and the damage and drying out of peat. Managing grouse moors usually involves killing a wide range of predators. This includes, in many cases, the illegal massacre of species protected by law, such as hen harriers. |
| If it is also found to be responsible, as the evidence suggests, for the devastating fires we are witnessing today, the case for a ban, advanced so powerfully by the conservationist Mark Avery, seems overwhelming. | If it is also found to be responsible, as the evidence suggests, for the devastating fires we are witnessing today, the case for a ban, advanced so powerfully by the conservationist Mark Avery, seems overwhelming. |
| For how much longer will we put up with the ecological destruction and damage to human communities caused by this disgusting “sport”, pursued by a tiny elite? If the environment secretary, Michael Gove, believes half the things he claims to believe, and values either the living world or human welfare, he will step in now and announce that it has to stop. | For how much longer will we put up with the ecological destruction and damage to human communities caused by this disgusting “sport”, pursued by a tiny elite? If the environment secretary, Michael Gove, believes half the things he claims to believe, and values either the living world or human welfare, he will step in now and announce that it has to stop. |
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