Much of it is peat-bog, where fires can burn up to two metres underground and take weeks to end.
(At Gordon & MacPhail's pretty little Benromach distillery in Forres, Speyside's smallest, Sandy Forsyth, 40 years in the business, explains that it's the peat used in the drying that gives some whiskies – from Islay, for example – their characteristic smokiness.
"It's for peat freaks," Flavien said.
The centre of the island is moorland and the island's main industries have been peat extraction and limestone quarrying.
It was assumed that all areas falling inside the DIPMv2 delineated area were peat.
About kelp, he added, "It sounds odd until you consider what most liquors are made out of: gin is juniper, and Scotch is peat".
Well, I am very proud to say, they are peat free now as well.
About 5 percent is peat bog, a substantial portion is marshland, and the river valleys are floodplains.
Of these fires, 1,104 were peat bog fires, covering a total of about 4,200 acres.
The trustee with the next biggest expenses was Peat with £9,376, followed by Hastings with £8,764, and Rotha Johnston with £7,625.
