Scottish Land & Estates welcomes progress made at first Wildfire Summit

Press Release

Scottish Land & Estates (SLE), the rural business organisation, has praised the commitment to collaborative working at Scotland’s first Wildfire Summit, held today in Grantown-on-Spey.

Chaired by Agriculture Minister Jim Fairlie and Community Safety Minister Siobhian Brown, the event brought together rural stakeholders, gamekeepers, farmers, crofters, public sector organisations and the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service to share their experiences and learn from the worst wildfires in Scotland’s history, which burned nearly 12,000 hectares of moorland and woodland at Dava and Carrbridge, earlier this year.

Ross Ewing, Director of Moorland, Scottish Land & Estates, who attended the event, said: “This is a really positive first step to ensure that we are taking appropriate and timely action to help prevent wildfires, and to better prepare ourselves for responding to them in the future.

“SLE has consistently argued that the one element of fire behaviour that we can control ahead of any wildfire taking hold is the fuel (the above-ground combustible vegetation). We can reduce the fuel load using effective methods of vegetation control such as muirburn and, to a lesser extent, cutting. Ministers have been receptive to these points and are engaging proactively with the rural business sector. We welcome their commitment to work with us on wildfire prevention and response.”

In a report for the Scottish Government in July, SLE quantified the response by land-based and rural businesses during the Carrbridge and Dava wildfires and made a series of recommendations to Ministers. These included:

• Investment in a bespoke or retained Scottish Fire & Rescue Service aerial capability and enhanced authority for SFRS commanders to mobilise private helicopter assets. [Helicopters were deployed for 96 hours during the Carrbridge-Dava incident at a cost of approximately £240,000].

• Provision of bespoke all-terrain vehicles for the SFRS, with suppression and containment capabilities.

• Creation of a Scotland-wide Integrated Fire Management Strategy (IFMS) as an urgent priority, with leadership and input from the Scottish Government.

Ross Ewing continued: “The threat posed by wildfire is increasing and we have already witnessed the strain on all those engaged in efforts to contain these devastating blazes. We must ensure that we have every tool at our disposal to reduce the risk and, when wildfires do take hold, to ensure the right infrastructure, skills and resources are in place to effectively suppress and contain the flames.”