“SNP caves to shooting lobby” – reactions to Scottish Government’s decision to delay muirburn licensing (again)

As expected, the Scottish Government’s announcement on Thursday that it has delayed the implementation of muirburn licensing (for the second time) has been met with anger.

Scottish Greens MSP Ariane Burgess said the Scottish Government has ‘caved to the shooting lobby‘ and accused Ministers of putting the interests of wealthy landowners ahead of environmental protection and public safety.

She is calling for the immediate implementation of muirburn licensing, proper investment in emergency services, and a supported shift away from land management practices that fuel ecological degradation.

Ariane continued:

“This is deeply disappointing. We have just had a summer of devastating wildfires across Scotland, and it is vital that we act rather than backtracking. Yet again, the SNP is bending to the demands of wealthy landowners.

“During the scrutiny of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Act we took detailed evidence on the role of muirburn in wildfire risk. There is very little credible evidence to support the hunting and shooting lobby’s ridiculous claim that these practices have any role in preventing wildfires“.

RSPB Scotland has also published a blog in reaction to the Government’s decision, saying ‘Scotland’s wildlife can’t afford any more delays to muirburn legislation’.

RSPB Senior Land Use Policy Officer Andrew Midgley said it was “a huge disappointment to those of us who wish to see this potentially damaging and often risky activity properly regulated. This is the second time it has been kicked down the road. 

“On the very same day, in a sadly ironic twist, muirburn that was reported as being conducted on a grouse moor in Aberdeenshire got out of control and started a wildfire. The wildfire spread onto a neighbouring National Nature Reserve managed by the Government agency NatureScot, and burnt into woodland that is part of our network of internationally important nature conservation sites. That this occurred is no cause for gloating. It’s a tragic lesson in why regulation is needed without further delay. 

“It’s now nearly six years since an independent group recommended that the regulation of burning in the hills be strengthened and it’s eighteen months since the legislation was passed in the Scottish Parliament. It was acknowledged that muirburn is a high-risk land management activity that should be carefully managed and that regulation would help. This latest delay is further evidence that the Government and NatureScot are failing to properly get a grasp of this issue“.    

The out-of-control muirburn that was started on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park on Thursday, just a few hours after the Scottish Government’s announcement, is thought to have had a 3km wide front and has burned approximately 200ha.

Local sources have reported that the fire burned approximately 5ha of the Muir of Dinnet National Nature Reserve before the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service were able to get it under control.

Why on earth gamekeepers were lighting fires under conditions known to present a high risk factor remains to be answered. But in a masterclass of irony, SGA Committee member Ronnie Kippen posted this on the same day:

You’re dead right, Ronnie, it was only a matter of time (just a few hours, in fact) before another massive wildfire erupted in the Cairngorms National Park ‘due to mismanagement of habitat’.

Strangely, I haven’t seen any of the usual suspects shouting about the Dinnet wildfire – in complete contrast to the publicity they’ve given to other wildfires this year where grouse moor management wasn’t thought to be implicated.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) has welcomed the Government’s decision to delay muirburn licensing, describing it as “common sense“.

No surprise really, this is the same organisation that thinks White-tailed Eagles could eat small children, that “strongly believe the goshawk never was indigenous to the United Kingdom and there is absolutely no hard evidence to suggest otherwise” (here), that think it’s “unfair to accuse gamekeepers of wildlife crime” (here) and plenty of other examples of assorted nonsense.

The SGA’s statement in response to the muirburn licensing delay concludes with this statement:

“The SGA supports the Minister’s move and looks forward to making future changes more workable, drawing on our members’ centuries of knowledge in this area“.

“Making future changes more workable”? That suggests that the SGA is willing to accept the principle of muirburn licensing, albeit with “future changes“.

However, if you look closely at the list of amendments put forward to Stage 3 of the Land Reform Bill (due to be debated at the end of this month), you’ll see that Tim Eagle MSP (Scottish Conservative, Highlands & Islands) has lodged an amendment to repeal muirburn licensing altogether:

I doubt very much whether Mr Eagle has lodged this amendment without the lobbying, encouragement and support of the land management sector – I wonder whether the SGA has been part of that lobbying effort?

It’s good to see another amendment, lodged by Ariane Burgess MSP, calling for peatland to be redefined as that having 30cm depth instead of 40cm depth, which would bring it in line with the new definition in England.

UPDATE 13 October 2025: ‘The problem, which the Scottish Government is willfully ignoring, is that muirburn is responsible for a large number of wildfires’ (here)

UPDATE 30 October 2025: Scottish Govt fiddles while grouse moors burn (here)