THE LAND AND FOREST FIRES WORKING GROUP
RECOMMENDATIONS APPROVED BY MINISTER OF STATE, SEAN CONNICK, T.D.
JANUARY 2011
1. Change the mindset regarding the use of fire in traditional agricultural practices.
The Group recognises that under certain circumstances, and based mainly on tradition, the burning of
land to clear scrub and other unwanted vegetation has become an accepted farm management practice.
However, as numerous cases during 2010 have illustrated, there exists a lack of knowledge and
expertise regarding controlled burning amongst some farmers and landowners, together with
ignorance as to the legality of some of their actions. As a result, the Working Group is making a
recommendation for a publicity and educational campaign in order to address these fundamental
weaknesses, with a view to changing the mindset of those who light such fires. This campaign should
be implemented in the context of training farmers and landowners in the proper methodologies of
controlled burning, and to make them aware of the consequences of acting outside the requirements of
current legislation. The following is the suggested structure of the campaign:
Publicity and Educational Campaign
This campaign will target the following groups:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
Farmers/landowners
General public, rural visitors
Recreational users
Geographical area – see recommendation 8, below
Foresters
Schools
Public Service (Civil Service and Agencies)
Gardai – Liaison Officers
It is proposed that the publicity campaign will use the following media in order to reach its target
group:
A. Radio/ Farm TV – appropriate times of year,
B. Farming Press, Editorial Features, local newspapers
C. Leaflets/Letters
The educational campaign will also employ the following means to convey the message:
A. Forestry Division Newsletter
B. SPS Help Sheet and Terms and Conditions
C. DAFF – farmer information meetings
D. IFA meetings and newsletter
E. Teagasc farm walks and demonstrations
F. Gardai Liaison officers
G. Schools visits
H. Failte Ireland info for visitors
I. Websites – incl. local authorities
J. Agricultural Shows
K. HSA Farm Safety Week
L. Met Eireann – Wildfire Warning
The aim of the campaign will be to illustrate the dangers of uncontrolled burning, outline the legal
issues and ensure that all stakeholders, including members of the public, are aware that everyone in
society is responsible for the prevention, where possible, and reporting of instances of illegal and
uncontrolled burning activities to the appropriate authorities. Similar campaigns in France and the
USA have proved to be both informative and effective.
2. Advise landowners on Fire Prevention and Forest Management
In order to ensure that Fire Service personnel are not placed under unnecessary risk of injury during a
forest fire call-out, it is recommended that all forest owners must properly maintain fire breaks within
their forests and to further make sure that potentially inflammable undergrowth is kept under control
in line with their individual Fire Plans.
3. Early Detection
To ensure a sufficient deterrent effect through the imposition of penalties and/or prosecutions, and to
enable the rapid suppression of fires, early and swift detection of illegal burning activity is required. It
is recommended that the State have a greater role in preventative surveillance and early detection of
wildfire in the Irish countryside during periods of high fire risk.
Periods of high fire risk can be defined using the AGMET/Met Eireann Fire Weather Warning
system. Fire Authority records 2000-2010 suggest that counties particularly at risk from fire are
Counties Galway, Donegal, Wicklow, Wexford, Kerry, Mayo, Clare, West Cork and Sligo. Particular
attention should be paid to detection and enforcement measures in these counties.
It is recommended that the use of existing resources within the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries
and Food to undertake activities to assist in the delivery of fire prevention and management measures
be further explored.
The potential of the Defence Forces to provide aerial surveillance and communications capability to
the Department during high fire risk periods should also be examined.
4. Penalise and/or prosecute offenders
Under the Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC) associated with crosscompliance, the burning of growing vegetation on cultivated or non-cultivated land (including
permanent pasture), without approval, is prohibited and could lead to penalties under the Direct
Payment Schemes. The forest industry representatives of the Working Group are of the opinion that
the imposition of penalties, and the pursuit of prosecutions, should be publicised extensively in order
to act as a deterrent against those who may be intent on acting outside current regulations. This
important issue will form part of the Publicity and Educational Campaign (see Recommendation 1).
Forest industry representatives also suggested that the carrying out of cross compliance inspections by
DAFF personnel, for any farmer suspected of engaging in an uncontrolled burn, may also act as a
further deterrent against such practices. The Forestry Inspectorate, National Parks and Wildlife
Service and Coillte will cross report cases which they suspect of being involved in uncontrolled
burning to the Cross Compliance section of DAFF and the latter will select a sample of these cases for
Cross Compliance inspections.
5. Develop an Interagency Statement in relation to land and forest fires
It was agreed by members of the Working Group that an Interagency Statement, outlining the scope of
each stakeholder’s role and responsibility in a land and forest fires context, was essential in taking a
holistic approach to dealing with the problem. A clear understanding of both current legislation and
the sector/organisation which is responsible for its implementation is crucial for the establishment of
this agreement. This recommendation will result in clearly defined areas of responsibility between
Government agencies, the Emergency Services and the private sector.
6. Advise landowners of their obligation to notify their intention to burn to Fire Services and the
Garda Siochana
Land owners should be advised of their Fire Service Control Centre so that any controlled burn can be
properly notified to the authorities in advance. This will ensure that the Fire Services are not called
out to attend a controlled burn which does not pose any threat to forests, human health or property.
Under Section 39(1) of the Wildlife Act, 1976 prior notice of an intention to instigate a controlled
burn must be given to the Sergeant in charge of the Garda station in the Garda district concerned.
7. Promote Producer Group involvement
There are currently 18 Farm Forest Producer Groups operating within the State which have been
established in order to achieve economies of scale and realise an economic return to growers. These
Producer Groups, in conjunction with Teagasc and local Development Companies, are striving to
achieve a greater understanding of the potential of an individual forest and how to achieve this potential
through cooperation with other growers. It is recommended that these Producer Groups are used as a
means of promoting good practice in the context of controlled burning and to encourage increased
interaction between forest owners, surrounding landowners and the various emergency services to
ensure better vigilance and response to potential forest fires.
8. Collate data for land and forest fires
It was agreed by the Working Group that a map of land based fire ‘hot spots’ should be compiled in
order to help specifically target the advertising and educational campaigns at these areas. The majority
of instances of uncontrolled burning occur within specific geographical locations, e.g. upland
commonages and targeted campaigns could be focussed on these areas for maximum effect.
The Fire Services and Emergency Planning Division of the Department of the Environment, Heritage
and Local Government (DEHLG) has been requested to compile this data, as it is the administrative
unit which is best placed to offer an overall view of the land and forest fires profile for the country.
The data to be collated may include area, location, date, origin/source and the resources needed to
control it. Of equal importance is information regarding the outcome of a fire, i.e. loss of life, damage
to property, loss of biodiversity, and financial loss. It would also be useful to confirm if the Fire
Service was notified prior to the burn, and if a prosecution was initiated if the burn was illegal.
9. Produce a Code for Controlled Burning.
The Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has prepared a draft Code of
Best Practice titled ‘Draft Code of Practice for Prescribed Burning’.
The draft Code advises on all aspects of instigating a controlled burn operation. This will greatly
assist farmers and landowners in an operational context. The Code also outlines what burning
operations are legally permitted at particular times of year. It also informs the farmer and landowner
of the penalties to be expected following prosecution should they act outside current legislation.
An approved Code of Practice will be a useful tool in reducing the number of uncontrolled burns in
the future, and will be viewed as a positive development by the insurance industry.
The draft Code will need to be field tested and evaluated in terms of effectiveness before it can be
adopted and put into use. This will necessitate live testing of controlled fires. This means that it will
be late 2011 before the Code can be fully introduced.
The Code will be distributed to registered farmers and forest owners.
10. Investigate research opportunities
As the issue of land based fires is a priority within the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food,
it is recommended that a spatial and temporal analysis of reported fire incidents in Ireland is
conducted in order to prevent the re-occurrence of the level of outbreaks experienced during 2010.
Other areas of research, including sociological factors and impacts of land burning could also be
considered.