We are sadly familiar with footage of the Amazon on fire, but one of our great natural landscapes is also going up in flames.  For decades our peatlands have been burned for grouse shooting, a practice that aims to remove patches of old heather to promote the growth of younger plants for the birds to feed on.  Gamekeepers claim this is a harmless way of boosting populations.  But there is now a battle in the countryside to stop the moors from being torched after conservationists warned burning peat is ­Britain’s equivalent to destroying the rainforests.  The peatlands are one of our best natural resources in keeping carbon out of the atmosphere.  According to Natural England, 580 million tons of carbon is stored here and about three-quarters is visibly damaged. Setting them alight allows carbon held in bogs to be released, adding to the climate crisis.  It also damages the biodiversity in the soil and water sources, making it worse for wildlife.  And it increases the risk of wildfires and flooding, as seen earlier this year in devastation to towns and villages in the Yorkshire Moors.  Peatland in the English uplands can be burned legally between October 1 and April 15. There are more than 400 permits already in place.  A report earlier this year by the quango Committee on Climate Change, called on the Government to ban the “damaging” practice of ­moorland burning.  Animal welfare minister Lord Goldsmith said: “One way or another this needs to stop.”  In Greater Manchester there have been major moorland fires in recent years. One 2019 blaze in the Winter Hill area released 90,000 tons of carbon equivalent.  In the past year, ministers have four times stated the need to phase out burning of protected blanket bogs. But there is still no action.  It’s bad enough to have had your home or business destroyed by the floods, but it’s even worse to know it is partly thanks to satisfying the needs of grouse shooters – and it is jeopardising our planet’s health.  Restoring our peatlands should be a top priority and in turn they will protect us.

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