One of the biggest wildfires in British history which struck the Highlands this week shows how Scotland is worryingly unprepared for climate change, experts warn.
Fire unions and gamekeepers both separately urged boosts to mitigation, planning and investment to tackle the growing threat of forest fires. It comes as the huge inferno at Cannich, near Loch Ness - thought to have been started by a wild camper - was brought under control after burning from Sunday until Wednesday.
The blaze could be the biggest of its kind ever recorded in the UK and was visible from space - burning through a 30 square mile area of scrub and woodland. The Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association slammed “incoherent” SNP-Green policies ahead of a planned Wildlife Management and Muirburn Bill at Holyrood.
Muirburn, the tradition of burning old heather moor to create new growth, can damage wildlife, critics claim - with ministers wanting to licence the practice and strongly limit it in areas of peatland, a vital carbon absorber.
But landowners say controlled burning can actually prevent and curb wildfires by reducing the amount of vegetation for blazes to rip through during arid conditions.
Chairman Alex Hogg said: "We have an incoherent policy landscape which says: reduce grazing, encourage unfettered public access and introduce more and more combustible vegetation into our landscape.
"The combination of this, in drier weather, is a disaster waiting to happen."
Meanwhile, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said chronic cuts to Scotland’s fire crews and resources must be reversed after a decade of austerity. That includes budget-slashing measures announced last week which saw the loss of ten fire engines, union chiefs said.
Two firefighters were airlifted to hospital during the blaze after being injured when their ATV vehicle crashed.
General Secretary Matt Wrack said: “Thankfully both have now returned home. However, this shows us the real dangers of the climate emergency. Wildfires, such as the ones we are seeing in Cannich at the moment, are on the rise year on year.
“All governments must heed this stark warning: the climate crisis is here now. We need urgent climate action to prevent loss of life, and that must also involve serious investment in our fire services.”
RSPB Scotland said the fire had spread on to its Corrimony Nature Reserve, damaging birch woodland and heather moorland, badly affecting ground-nesting birds. The SGA claimed millions of pounds of public cash was being lost by failing to learn how to protect natural assets from the increasing threat of the blazes.
Hogg said: "Through the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Bill, we risk going in the opposite direction by making it much harder for land managers to protect land by reducing unmanaged fuel loads. The results of this will be loss to humans, animals and properties.”
He added: "Too much well intentioned public money is going up in flames through lack of proper planning.
“If the Scottish Government spends £250million on peatland restoration, without prerequisite fuel load management, it may as well start lighting pound notes.”
The government was asked for comment.
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