The July 2024 'Landscape Connections' webinar focused on fire and UK landscapes. A report and recording from the webinar will feature in a forthcoming edition of the IALE UK newsletter
I recently finished a 3-month fellowship at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), an organisation which exists to facilitate the use of scientific evidence by UK Parliament. During my fellowship, which was funded by the British Ecological Society, I produced a briefing on Wildfire Risks to UK Landscapes, drawing on the expertise and perspectives of stakeholders from across the UK’s environment sector.
Wildfires are a natural feature of almost all terrestrial ecosystems, and many biomes would be unrecognisable under altered fire regimes. Despite their ecological importance, however, it goes without saying that wildfires can have disastrous consequences for human societies.
Although the area burned globally by wildfire has declined in recent decades (due mostly to agricultural expansion and intensification in tropical savannahs), weather conducive to wildfires is occurring more frequently under climate change, including in regions where major wildfires have historically been rare. In the United Kingdom, highly dangerous summer fire weather is predicted to occur twice as frequently under 2 degrees of warming, with smaller increases also forecast for spring (Perry et al. 2021).
In the briefing, we summarise work by researchers, fire practitioners, land managers and government to address rising wildfire risks across the four nations of the UK. The briefing covers risk communication, wildfire suppression and the interactions between land management and wildfire.
For land managers, challenges exist in balancing work towards biodiversity and climate goals with the management of wildfire risk. Approaches including vegetation management, tree planting, rewilding and peatland restoration present distinct challenges and potential opportunities.
The Home Office - who hold ultimate responsibility for wildfire in England - are committed to scoping a Wildfire Strategy and Action Plan by mid-2024. The briefing describes policy options available to the Home Office – and other UK policymakers - in adapting to this emerging threat.