Wildfires are on the rise in the UK, but scientists have been developing innovative ways of preventing them, using the power of nature
Words by JO CAIRD
WILDFIRES ●
The recent wildfire events in Europe, Canada and Hawaii – and, prior to that, other US states and Australia – may dominate the headlines, yet wildfire is an issue faced by the UK, too.
Before the soggy affair that was July and August, a spell of hot weather meant wildfires were very much on our national agenda. In June, firefighters tackled a wildfire the size of 300 football pitches in woodland on Rhigos Mountain in South Wales. Around the same time, a nearly 2km-long patch of moor and woodland just south of Inverness went up in flames. A few days later, yet another wildfire was burning on Marsden Moor in West Yorkshire, the eighth in the area since February.
These are just a few of the wildfire events that have taken place in this country this summer, and there will be more in summers to come, each the result of action by humans, whether careless or, more likely, deliberate. A smouldering cigarette butt tossed into the undergrowth. A spark from a barbecue. An act of arson motivated by who knows what.
There are places in the world where wildfire is beneficial to ecosystems. In the boreal forests of Russia and Canada, for example, or the Australian bush, where lightning is a common source of ignition, wildfire has historically been part of a regular cycle of destruction and renewal, critical when it comes to maintaining biodiversity in a given environment. In the UK, however, where we have no so-called ‘natural ignitions’ from lightning, it’s a different story.
The consequences for wildlife vary from place to place, but as a general rule, wildfires in this country have a devastating effect on species up and down the food chain. They strip out vegetation, kill all manner of animals that can’t flee fast enough, and destroy birds’ nests. After an upland fire, the razed ground favours particular types of vegetation, with species such as purple moor-grass creating a monoculture that both reduces biodiversity and makes the landscape more flammable.
Wildfires are not a new phenomenon in the UK but they are becoming more frequent, with wildfire season extending as a result of climate change. As Stefan Doerr, director of the Centre for Wildfire Research at Swansea University, explains: “The key factors in fire weather are how long it’s been dry. In the UK, all we need is a week or two of dry weather to all
