UK not prepared for wildfires despite first ever ‘megafire’

Press Release

An Integrated Fire Management Strategy is needed for the whole of the UK, as public policy has not kept pace with the increasing risk of high-intensity, large-scale and more frequent wildfires. 

In many parts of the UK, temperatures today are expected to reach a new record high for May, potentially adding to the wildfire risk.

In its response to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) call for evidence on wildfire risk, rural business organisation Scottish Land & Estates (SLE) called for a coherent strategic framework covering wildfire preparation, risk reduction, funding and operational plans.

Last year’s wildfires across Carrbridge and Dava in Strathspey devastated the same amount of land as is typically burnt across the UK in an entire year (an estimated 29,225 acres). 

An international team of researchers has now classified the wildfire event as the UK’s first ‘megafire’, further reporting that it released carbon equivalent to 85% of the average annual emissions from fires across the UK in the 20-year period from 2001 to 2021.

Ross Ewing, director of moorland and strategic projects for SLE commented: “As our climate changes, wildfire can no longer be treated as an isolated issue, which UK fire services can manage on their own. It is a land management, climate resilience, public safety and rural economy issue, that demands a stronger national response rooted in prevention as well as response.

“Practical interventions including muirburn, vegetation cutting, grazing by livestock and coordination between neighbouring landholdings are essential to reduce the risk of a wildfire and improve our collective response if and when a fire breaks out. One of the lessons from the Carrbridge and Dava wildfire was that where fuel loads are managed and land managers are organised at a landscape scale, containment can be faster and more effective.”

SLE points to the Scottish Government’s Strategic Action Plan for Wildfires as a positive example of the kind of coordinated, multi-agency and cross-departmental approach that should now be implemented across the UK, bringing together prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. 

Partnership working and locally responsive funding schemes are key to enabling an effective response to wildfires, particularly in remote areas and for small landholders.

Ross Ewing continued: “Targeted grants and cost-sharing would enable smaller landholders to invest in equipment, training and restoration. Our report on the Carrbridge and Dava wildfire recommends formalising local networks and funding arrangements to improve access to vital assets and help land managers to better prepare. The equipment damages grant, coordinated between SLE and the Cairngorms National Park Authority, is a good illustration of how locally-focused funding helps provide future wildfire mitigation and response.”

A fund of £10,000 was established by CNPA and administered by SLE to contribute towards the cost of damages and breakages to equipment for those affected by the Carrbridge and Dava wildfire. 

SLE’s consultation response further noted that wildfire policy should prioritise fuel load reduction as a central wildfire mitigation strategy and support a range of measures such as muirburn, mechanical cutting and grazing.

SLE warned that the muirburn licensing framework, due to come into force this autumn, may constrain effective fuel load management, which would weaken both wildfire prevention and operational suppression.

Mr Ewing concluded: “Future policy must strike a workable balance between environmental objectives and the practical need to maintain resilient landscapes that are less vulnerable to severe wildfire events.”

Earlier this year the UK's Regional Moorland Groups formed a Wildfire Commission, to establish how effective, practical wildfire fuel load management should be undertaken across the country's upland landscapes, and how fuel load management can be delivered at scale. The first meeting of the Wildfire Commission was attended by UK academics, fire fighters and land managers.

SLE also worked with the Scottish Government and the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service to develop the  UK’s first Strategic Action Plan on Wildfire.