English demonstration against flood-causing grouse killing

This video from England says about itself:

Ban the burn, 12th August 2012

Dongria Kondh talks about the issues of draining and burning blanket bog, in particular at Walshaw Dean Estate, above Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.

By Peter Lazenby in Britain:

Tuesday 9th August 2016

PROTESTERS will hold a mass demonstration against burning moorland for grouse shooting this week, which they blame for causing severe floods in the north.

The Ban the Burn rally will be held in the Yorkshire Pennine town of Hebden Bridge in the Calder Valley on Friday, the so-called “Glorious 12th” — the start of the grouse-shooting season.

Ban the Burn was formed following devastating floods in the region in 2012.

Moorland above the valley is regularly burned to make the land more suitable for profitable grouse shoots.

The deliberate burning has been condemned as a contributory factor to floods which have devastated parts of the north in recent years.

The process destroys plant life — particularly sphagnum moss — which is highly retentive of water. With moss destroyed, in storms and periods of prolonged high rainfall, water runs straight off the moor, contributing to flooding.

The owners of the moorland — Walshaw Moor — above Hebden Bridge are paid £2.5 million in subsidies by taxpayers for their “stewardship” of the moor.

A spokeswoman for Ban the Burn said: “It is widely accepted that mismanagement of the Walshaw Moor blanket bogs for intensive grouse rearing has contributed to three severe floods in Hebden Bridge over the last four years and downstream in the Calder Valley.

“Some households and businesses have still not recovered from the terrible Boxing Day flood last year, when the town centre was under up to five feet of filthy water.”

A NEW scientific study claims to have proved that burning moorland for grouse-breeding contributes to floods which have devastated northern England writes Peter Lazenby: here.

Mountain hare numbers on moorlands in the eastern Highlands have declined to less than one per cent of their initial levels, according to a newly published long-term scientific study. Counts of mountain hares from six decades of consistent spring counts on moorland managed for red grouse shooting and on neighbouring mountain land were analysed in the research by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the RSPB: here.

Related articles

• Highland bog reveals global warming threat to peatlands
• Calder Valley residents finally sit down to Christmas dinner 6 months after floods
• RSPB-led study reveals extent of upland burning in Scotland: Burning found in over half of conservation areas assessed

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