The Burning Question
25th June 2026
Scotland’s gamekeepers have issued a stark warning: they will not endorse the Scottish Government’s new Muirburn Code, a decision they claim is born not of defiance, but of a desperate need to prevent catastrophic wildfires. They argue that the new regulations, designed to protect peatlands, will ironically create a tinderbox, stripping them of the very tools needed to manage fuel loads and keep communities safe. In an era of “red warnings” and severe summer heat, the outcome of this policy, they assert, will be a disaster waiting to happen.
At the heart of the matter is a centuries-old land management practice. Muirburn, the controlled burning of vegetation, is a traditional tool used by gamekeepers to create a patchwork of habitats for wildlife, improve grazing, and crucially, to prevent wildfires by reducing combustible material. The Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA), which represents these professionals, says that the new Code, set to accompany a licensing regime coming into place, makes the practice “almost impossible” to carry out.
Gamekeepers point to several specific provisions they say are unworkable and dangerous. The most contentious is the new requirement for licensing to burn on peatlands, defined in the Act as land where peat exceeds 40cm in depth. To apply for a licence, gamekeepers must first probe and measure peat depth across the area they intend to manage. The SGA claims the prescribed methodology from government advisers, NatureScot, is so complex that it could take up to 60 days to survey a single estate, at a vast financial cost, with no guarantee a licence will even be granted.
Government can’t touch anything without screwing it up.
I thank God I don’t live in Britain.