Smoke and Mirrors: Do “Cool Burns” Safeguard or Exploit the Moors?

The ewe eyes me warily across this swidden, a black patch of burnt heather on Carlton Moor. This is muirburn, the controlled burning that has scorched British hillsides for generations.¹Goldsmith, Ben. “Rewilding Is the Best Defence Against Wildfires.” The Spectator, 2 Aug. 2026.²Purves, Libby. “The Fire Next Time: The High Cost of Rewilding.” The Times, 3 Aug. 2026.. Its defenders call it stewardship, plain and simple. Burn the old heather in strips, they say, and you starve a wildfire of fuel before it ever gets going³Lees, Kirsten J., G. Matt Davies, and Timothy M. Lenton. “Wildfire Size, Severity and Timing Vary with Dominant Vegetation in Open Landscapes in England and Wales.” Ecological Solutions and Evidence, vol. 7, 2026, e70254..

Strip away that tidy story and something less noble turns up. Heather monoculture does not happen by accident. It is drained, burned and fussed over so red grouse have somewhere to breed, all so a few people can shoot them for fun⁴Lindsay, Richard. “After a Wildfire Britain’s Moors and Heaths Can Be Green Again Within Weeks…” The Conversation, 21 Aug. 2026.⁵Goldsmith, Ben. Rewilding is the best defence against wildfires . The Spectator, 2 Aug. 2026..

Critics tell a different tale altogether. Burning dries out the peat, kills off the Sphagnum moss that holds water like a sponge, and lets decades of buried carbon go up in smoke. And here is the real sting: a fair few of the wildfires the burning is meant to stop actually start with a controlled burn that got away from itself⁶Glentworth, Joe. “How Rewilding Could Help Stop the Spread of Britain’s Wildfires.” The Conversation, 4 Aug. 2026.⁷Goldsmith, Ben. Rewilding is the best defence against wildfires . The Spectator, 2 Aug. 2026.⁸MacMillan, Douglas. “Does Muirburn Mitigate Fire Damage?” Reforesting Scotland, Spring/Summer 2026 [8]..

So the traditionalists cling to their firebreak argument, while the rewilders say the answer was never fire at all. Wet the bogs, let the woodland back in, and the land defends itself.⁹Glentworth, Joe. “How Rewilding Could Help Stop the Spread of Britain’s Wildfires.” The Conversation, 4 Aug. 2026 ¹⁰Goldsmith, Ben. Rewilding is the best defence against wildfires . The Spectator, 2 Aug. 2026.[/mfn¹⁰Goldsmith, Ben. Rewilding is the best defence against wildfires . The Spectator, 2 Aug. 2026.¹¹MacMillan, Douglas. Reforesting Scotland, Spring/Summer 2026.. Strip away the talk of wildfire prevention, and what is left is a plainer question: whether the health of the hills should be gambled away so a shooting estate can turn a profit.

• 1
  Goldsmith, Ben. “Rewilding Is the Best Defence Against Wildfires.” The Spectator, 2 Aug. 2026. ↩︎
• 2
  Purves, Libby. “The Fire Next Time: The High Cost of Rewilding.” The Times, 3 Aug. 2026. ↩︎
• 3
  Lees, Kirsten J., G. Matt Davies, and Timothy M. Lenton. “Wildfire Size, Severity and Timing Vary with Dominant Vegetation in Open Landscapes in England and Wales.” Ecological Solutions and Evidence, vol. 7, 2026, e70254. ↩︎
• 4
  Lindsay, Richard. “After a Wildfire Britain’s Moors and Heaths Can Be Green Again Within Weeks…” The Conversation, 21 Aug. 2026. ↩︎
• 5
  Goldsmith, Ben. Rewilding is the best defence against wildfires . The Spectator, 2 Aug. 2026. ↩︎
• 6
  Glentworth, Joe. “How Rewilding Could Help Stop the Spread of Britain’s Wildfires.” The Conversation, 4 Aug. 2026. ↩︎
• 7
  Goldsmith, Ben. Rewilding is the best defence against wildfires . The Spectator, 2 Aug. 2026. ↩︎
• 8
  MacMillan, Douglas. “Does Muirburn Mitigate Fire Damage?” Reforesting Scotland, Spring/Summer 2026 [8]. ↩︎
• 9
  Glentworth, Joe. “How Rewilding Could Help Stop the Spread of Britain’s Wildfires.” The Conversation, 4 Aug. 2026 ↩︎
• 10
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• 10
  Goldsmith, Ben. Rewilding is the best defence against wildfires . The Spectator, 2 Aug. 2026.[/mfn¹⁰Goldsmith, Ben. Rewilding is the best defence against wildfires . The Spectator, 2 Aug. 2026. ↩︎
• 11
  MacMillan, Douglas. Reforesting Scotland, Spring/Summer 2026. ↩︎