UKH

Legislation will be brought forward to prevent burning on protected blanket bog habitats, came an announcement from the UK Government on Friday. But environmental groups are unimpressed by measures they say fall short, pointing to multiple possible loopholes.

Its only for England & has so many loopholes it may have no real impact at all. But let's hope it's the first step to proper protection of the English peatlands.

The cynic in me can't help but think that half laws like this are worse than nothing at all. They allow some minister to stand up in Parliament and make bold claims about how the government is tackling a problem, without having any impact on the problem whatsoever. They allow the government to shirk their responsibilities in the most underhand of ways.

I'll be getting hold of some detailed mapping (GIS and overlays) fairly soon to show where burning will not be allowed in the Peak (ridiculous loopholes notwthstanding). I will find some way of posting them on here, or maybe you could do something to publicise that information so that UKC users can keep an eye out for illegal burns?

Far from perfect but a good start. To many estates were flouting the voluntary ban that they signed up to.

It needs to be combined with a licensing system, almost like a driving license. Break the burning rules too many times? Too many birds of prey vanish over your estate? Too many illegal traps? No shooting for you this season.

Where is the picture with the flag stones taken?

That's Great Dun Fell with the radar station on top of it.

Yeah I guess that's fairly distinctive! It's maybe not the ideal photo to go with the piece but it's the best English bog pic I could find. Scottish bogs? I've got hundreds

at least you found an English picture -the Guardian article about this used a photo of the Flow country