Controlled Burning

England and Wales had a record 1,350 wildfires in 2026. See what the BBC found and how land managers cut fuel loads before the fire season to lower the risk.

A Guardian report on UK wildfires shows fuel matters alongside weather. What its evidence means for managing heather moorland and protecting peat.

MPs on the EFRA Committee question ministers on moorland burning licences, peatland rewetting and support for land managers fighting upland wildfires.

University of Nottingham says rewetting is still essential but wants stability checked in deep peat and on slopes, where modelled stable depth falls to 0.27m at 12°.

Bangor scientists say this summer's Welsh upland fires destroyed soil millennia in the making. Why fuel load is the variable land managers can control.

Defra admits peatland rewetting takes decades. So who manages the wildfire fuel building up on English moors in the meantime?

Government policies are increasing upland wildfire risks. Read our letter to The Times urging Defra to address mounting vegetation fuels before it's too late.

Scottish Land & Estates survey records £6.4m of equipment and 266 person-days offered at the Glenmore-Strathnethy wildfire, much of it never tasked.

In a hard-hitting new piece for the Daily Mail, Lord Botham addresses the severe risks posed by unchecked rewilding and the resulting surge in devastating wildfires across the UK.

UK wildfire policy is failing. The Moorland Association urges a joint Defra-MHCLG Wildfire Resilience Board to shift focus toward proactive fuel management.

A study on the Langdale Moor fire finds managed heather patches burned less severely, sparing an estimated 7,000 tonnes of soil carbon.

Wildfire is now recognised as a climate risk in England's new NPPF. What it means for local plans, planning applications and moorland land managers.