Dr. Andy Bleasdale:

It depends on the motivation of the individual, whether the fire is a wildfire, whether it has been set and whether it is part of a land eligibility issue.

We have worked hard with the Department of agriculture and the European Commission, including DG AGRI and DG ENV, to ensure any land eligibility rules are not predicated on encouraging farmers to take a match-up or to overgraze to be compliant and eligible for payments. Many of the policy disincentives have been removed. There is a tradition and a culture to manage uplands in certain ways. It differs across the country. In some areas, there is a tradition of burning. Any management activity is typically neither good nor bad. It just depends on how it is done, the time of year, the intensity or scale of it and its management.

Ultimately, it should not matter to the NPWS how we get the outcome we require as long as we get there. If we can set conservation objectives for a site and they are delivered through whatever means, be it extensive grazing or other controls, even controlled burning – I am not saying I would be in favour of that – then the NPWS should be happy, as should biodiversity-----