NGO issues robust response to EFRA consultation

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The NGO has responded robustly to the recent Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee consultation on the growing threat posed by wildfires in the UK.  EFRA Committee Chair Alistair Carmichael confirmed that the committee wanted “to hear from experts in this field and organisations who care for their landscapes, as well as public services who face wildfires annually and have tools and strategies to prevent and contain them… The Committee will also look at how other countries prepare and mitigate these risks to people, property, plant and animal life.”

The view of the NGO is that without being able to control the fuel load, the UK is destined to see ever increasing incidents of wildfire, as well as an increase in their size and ferocity. It pointed out the damage to wildlife, ecosystems, people and their livelihoods, that these huge summer fires are having on our communities.

The NGO suggested that the Government revisits its policies and adopt the Climate Change Committee’s recommendations which are: fuel load management, creation of fire breaks, and peat rewetting. No single action can prevent wildfires, but using the full range of available tools will reduce their number and their impact.

The RSPB recently released a paper calling for moorland licensing based on air pollution concerns, but it must be remembered that a summer wildfire releases more carbon than a winter prescribed burn. Law makers should measure and compare the environmental damage caused by smoke and carbon release between winter cool burning and extreme summer fires.

Of note is a study published on 7 May 2026 by the University of California stating that work carried out in western USA to reduce excess fuel load in forests warded off the release of 2.7 million tons of carbon dioxide, averted nearly 60 premature deaths and avoided 2.8 billion dollars in damages thanks to prescribed burning. These fires are intentionally lit to reduce dangerous accumulations of flammable fuel load.

Will Barrett, Assistant Vice President for Nationwide Clean Air Policy at the American Lung Association commented, “We support prescribed fires under certain conditions when used as a tool to reduce wildfire risk”.

If only our government took the same sensible stance.

ENDS

The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation: The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) represents the gamekeepers of England and Wales. The NGO defends and promotes gamekeeping and gamekeepers and works to ensure high standards throughout the profession. The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation was founded in 1997 by a group of gamekeepers who felt that keepering was threatened by public misunderstanding and poor representation. Today, there are 13,000 members of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation.  www.nationalgamekeepers.org.uk