By Henrietta Appleton, Policy Officer (England)
The GWCT welcomes the EFRA committee’s report on its wildfire risk and response inquiry. It provides an important reminder of the widespread demands that wildfires place on the Fire Service and volunteer responders.
However as the Committee states wildfire risk was not unforeseen. Academics and wildfire experts have been flagging the increasing risk that wildfire presents to UK habitats, the economy, communities and human health for a decade or more. Although the third climate change risk assessment included a comprehensive assessment of wildfire risk, arguably it took the 2026 firewave and the human impact of this to generate long awaited action by Government.
Importantly this inquiry has for the first time really highlighted the role of farmers, gamekeepers, land managers, volunteers and communities in preventing and responding to wildfires and the mental and physical toll that this can result in. It was noticeable both during oral evidence and in this report that the Committee was affected by the personal experiences of these volunteer responders and has rightly emphasised the need to recognise those experiences in future policymaking.
The conclusions and 27 recommendations made to Government included in the report present a balanced approach to addressing wildfire risk, ranging from additional capability to support the Fire & Rescue Services, to public awareness campaigns, water availability and the need for a national strategy.
Above all as a conservation charity we are delighted that the Committee is recommending a re-appraisal of the role of controlled burning and an assessment of the implications of the 2025 heather & grass burning regulations on wildfire risk and resilience to ensure that land managers have the necessary toolbox to manage the landscape, particularly during peatland restoration. We hope that the new Nature Minister, Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, having been part of the EFRA committee for some of the inquiry, will take on board this recommendation and that Defra will, as recommended by the Committee, continually review policy decisions in the light of evolving scientific evidence, including the UK IDEAL fire project that was set up to define ecologically adaptive land management for habitat resilience and wildfire mitigation.
Having just completed our response to the Environmental Audit Committee’s Climate Adaptation inquiry, the GWCT was delighted to see that the lack of a coordinated approach and accountability for wildfire was highlighted in the report. In our 7-point call for action we proposed that accountability should be provided with the Cabinet Office having overall responsibility and ministers within MHCLG and Defra having specific responsibility for wildfire risk and mitigation. This would put wildfire on an equal footing to flooding requiring, as the report puts it, “sustained cross-government leadership and a coordinated long-term approach”.
Let’s hope there is action before 2027 becomes the next “worst year yet” for wildfire.