Scottish ministers have signed a tidy-looking but important set of amendments ahead of the new muirburn licensing regime. The Regulations, made on 20 August, laid before the Scottish Parliament on 24 August and due to take effect on 10 October 2026, replace old references to heather-burning leaflets from 1988 and 1993 with the new Muirburn Code created under the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024. NatureScot says that from 15 September 2026 a licence will be required for muirburn on any land in Scotland, and carrying out muirburn without one will become an offence. In plain terms, this instrument helps make sure older environmental rules now point to the same modern code and licensing system. (nature.scot)

On paper, much of the instrument is legal housekeeping. In practice, it matters because a run of environmentally sensitive area orders, from Loch Lomond and Breadalbane to the Cairngorms Straths, Argyll Islands and Shetland, will now refer to one current rulebook instead of ageing guidance notes. That may sound modest, but it is exactly how environmental law becomes usable on the ground. When crofters, estates, farmers, advisers and regulators are all working from the same code, there is less room for mixed messages about how fire should be planned, controlled and recorded.

The wider backdrop is Scotland's peatland challenge. The Scottish Government says peatlands cover around a quarter of the country, about 70% are in poor condition, and recent official estimates put the carbon held in Scotland's peat soils at roughly two billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent, about 50 years of Scotland's 2023 territorial emissions. (gov.scot) Part 2 of the 2024 Act was built with that climate and conservation context in mind. The Act gives ministers scope to shape muirburn rules where they consider it necessary for climate change, for conserving, restoring, enhancing or managing the natural environment, or for preventing wildfire harm to people and property. (legislation.gov.uk)

This also helps explain why Scotland is moving away from custom and scattered legacy rules towards licences, training and a single code. NatureScot's commissioned review of the evidence found that research on muirburn and wildfire, carbon storage, habitats and species is limited and sometimes contested. (nature.scot) The same review found evidence that muirburn causes a share of moorland wildfires and that burning can reduce fuel load in heather-dominated ground, but it said the evidence is too thin to draw firm conclusions about muirburn's role in controlling wildfire intensity, severity or spread. The value of this legal clean-up is that it creates a firmer base for case-by-case decisions instead of broad claims that are stronger than the science. (nature.scot)

For land managers, the practical message is now much clearer. NatureScot says applications are already open, the standard muirburn season will run from 15 September to 31 March, and the licence holder must be the landowner or occupier with the legal right to carry out muirburn. Licences can only be granted for set purposes, and those purposes are narrower on peatland than on non-peatland. (nature.scot) NatureScot also draws a hard line around peat depth. Peatland is defined as land with peat layers more than 40cm deep, and applicants seeking a non-peatland purpose may need survey work in uncertain areas using the agency's map and template. The current licensing page says licence holders can start with a smaller area and add more survey results later through a licence amendment, which is a useful pressure valve for this first year of the scheme. (nature.scot)

Where wildfire reduction is the aim, the paperwork becomes more detailed by design. NatureScot says applicants must submit a wildfire risk and mitigation plan and a wildfire map, and explain how the proposed burn would reduce risk to habitats, people or property. Everyone planning, supervising or controlling muirburn must complete the Muirburn Practitioner Foundation Course. (nature.scot) There is a useful public-interest point here. Scottish Government ministers delayed the wider scheme from 1 January 2026 to autumn 2026 after severe wildfires and discussions with land managers and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. That means the rules now arriving are not only about restricting burning; they are also about making sure fire management and wildfire prevention are handled with better evidence and clearer safeguards. (gov.scot)

The follow-on amendments also bring the new muirburn regime into closer contact with existing habitat duties and wider environmental regulation. In effect, the licence is not being bolted on beside Scotland's conservation law; it is being fitted into it. NatureScot's peatland guidance already notes that vegetation management on designated sites must meet site-specific conservation objectives and may need separate consent or assessment under nature and habitats rules. (nature.scot) For communities near moorland, the most useful test will be simple: do the new rules produce clearer notice, better wildfire planning and fewer avoidable disputes about what can be burnt, where and why? NatureScot says licence holders will have to record how they had regard to the Code, with compliance checked through returns, satellite imagery and on-site visits. If that monitoring is used well, Scotland should end up with better information and a more consistent approach on some of its most sensitive land. (nature.scot)