Getting Ready for Muirburn Licensing
26 August 2026In 2026, muirburn legislation changed in 3 important ways:
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Everyone will need a licence to undertake muirburn.
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To obtain a licence everyone taking part in muirburn will need to undertake online and practical training.
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The muirburn season dates have changed to 15th September - 31st March.
The basis on which muirburn is permitted has changed. The graphic below shows the 5 purposes that it may be granted on peatland and the 7 purposes for non-peatland. As part of your application, you must select your purpose(s) for carrying out muirburn.
Identifying Peatland or Non-Peatland?
There is an interactive map available on the NatureScot website that groups land into 3 categories: peatland in purple, non-peatland in blue and uncertain peat depth shown as green.
Peatland is any ground with a peat-depth of more than 40cm. If your ground is clearly peatland and your application is for one of the 5 peatland purposes, no peat depth survey is required. Likewise, if you agree that your land is non-peatland and your application is for one of the non-peatland purposes, no survey is needed, but you should walk the ground to confirm this classification.
If your area is classed as uncertain and you want to apply for a non-peatland purpose, peat depth surveys will be required. If you disagree with your peatland classification and want to apply for a non-peatland purpose, you will need to undertake peat depth surveys.
Peat Depth Surveys
To survey, select an area on the interactive map that you would like to complete muirburn on. You will then get survey points that you will need to measure the peat depth at and submit the results to NatureScot for review.
Top Three Tips
- The licence saves on the system as you go so don’t feel you need to do it all at once.
- Apply for the primary purpose of the muirburn – don’t over-complicate it
- Don’t feel obliged to apply for your whole holding in year 1. You will be able to add on areas and submit peat depth samples in the future.
The webinar recording and links to the NatureScot application system can be accessed via the FAS website at https://www.fas.scot/environment/biodiversity/muirburn-code/
Janette Sutherland, SAC Consulting
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