Wildfire response cannot run on goodwill alone, estates warn

More than 3,300 hectares burned in the Glenmore-Strathnethy wildfire, with more than 40 businesses and organisations and nearly £6.4 million of privately owned specialist equipment drawn into the response, according to a report published today by Scottish Land & Estates (SLE). The rural business organisation, whose report was prepared for the Scottish Government, warns that Scotland is dangerously exposed because its wildfire response still runs on goodwill and improvisation, and MSPs debate the growing risk at Holyrood this evening.

What did the report find?

The report draws on contact records and follow-up survey returns from estates, contractors, plant-hire businesses, wildfire consultants and conservation bodies involved in July’s fire in the Cairngorms. More than 250 recorded pieces of specialist equipment were made available, including Argocats, all-terrain vehicles, fogging units, bulldozers, excavators, tractors, water tanks, pumps, radios and hand tools, with a combined stated value of nearly £6.4 million.

Survey returns recorded 266 person-days and 38 person-nights of assistance volunteered, authorised or placed on standby, more than 300 in all. SLE notes the figures are conservative, because some landholdings were still damping down when returns were gathered and not every responder had been identified.

Goodwill is not a system

Ross Ewing, director of moorland and strategic projects at SLE and the report’s author, said the fire showed rural Scotland at its best but exposed a dangerous weakness. “Scotland is still relying on goodwill and improvisation when it needs a planned, exercised wildfire resilience system,” he said. “Estates, contractors and conservation bodies are willing to play their part in future – but this must come as part of a properly planned process rather than a last-minute call as a wildfire begins to rage.”

“We need guaranteed aerial support when risk is highest, as well as a licensing regime for muirburn that does not erode the skills and equipment Scotland depends on when wildfire breaks out. After two major wildfires in the space of just over a year, we know that the next major wildfire will not wait for us to be slow on this matter.”

The report calls for a live wildfire capability register run through the Community Asset Register, a standard mobilisation and tasking process, local wildfire groups in high-risk areas, a reimbursement and repair mechanism for private machinery, and a joint exercise programme with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and public agencies before the next high-risk season. On aviation, it wants a dedicated helicopter and pilot services framework, with guaranteed availability in periods of very high and extreme risk, mapped water sources, refuelling and landing options and trained liaison roles, in place of ad hoc reliance on private contractor availability.

Why does muirburn licensing matter to the response?

Much of the equipment and expertise recorded in the response exists, the report argues, because land managers undertake planned muirburn. Licences become mandatory in Scotland on 15 September under the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024, and SLE warns that if lawful muirburn becomes impractical, uncertain or commercially unjustifiable, Scotland risks losing a ready-made wildfire response reserve of trained operators, specialist vehicles, water-moving capability and practical fire-behaviour knowledge. Workable muirburn regulation, it says, should be treated as part of Scotland’s wildfire resilience architecture, not as a separate land-management issue.

What happens next?

The Scottish Parliament considers the growing risk of wildfires in members’ business this evening (Tuesday 1 September), on a motion from Andrew Baxter, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, and a ministerial statement on the Glenmore-Strathnethy wildfire is expected on Thursday 3 September. SLE says the report’s recommendations should inform immediate parliamentary and government action, with rural responders identified and exercised before the next period of very high or extreme fire risk. The full report, The Response to the Glenmore-Strathnethy Wildfire by Land-Based and Rural Businesses, is available from Scottish Land & Estates.