Current status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jim Fairlie on 9 October 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether the muirburn licensing provisions in the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 will be implemented on 1 January 2026, in light of the lessons learned following the wildfires in Dava and Carrbridge in summer 2025.
Following discussions with a number of stakeholders and experts over recent weeks, I have decided to delay implementation of the muirburn provisions until the start of the next muirburn season in Autumn 2026.
This decision will provide us with the time and opportunity to carefully consider the upcoming changes to muirburn and how these changes can be brought forward in a way which does not adversely affect our ability to prevent and respond to wildfires. Wildfires as I saw this summer, are very damaging to our precious peatland carbon stores and further discussions on this issue will take place with key stakeholders and at the Wildfire Summit on 14 October 2025.