-loss of game sector buy-in could harm nation's response-
That is the message from survey work by the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) which assessed the value of voluntary wildfire assistance game estates currently provide to the national effort to tackle blazes.
The contribution dwarfs considerably the recent £1.6m which the Scottish Government provided to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to tackle future wildfires in a changing climate.
The year 2025 will go down as a record for wildfires in Scotland, with the Carrbridge/Dava inferno representing the single biggest wildfire event in history.
Gamekeepers and land managers were at the frontline, volunteering with equipment and experienced individuals and working in coordination with the Fire Service.
However, while this partnership approach has helped save lives, tough new Government restrictions on muirburn will likely see game estates slashing resources.
New constraints on the burning of peatlands will make it very difficult for estates to obtain workable licences to carry out prescribed burning in these environments, despite it being a proven wildfire mitigation method to protect peatlands.
Should licensing laws and the new Muirburn Code remain as they currently are, estates will cut back on expensive equipment. Critical fire behaviour knowledge will also be lost, with far fewer experienced individuals able to replace that resource.
Analysis
To assess the impact this would have on Scotland’s collective wildfire effort, SGA surveyed 30 grouse estates via Scotland’s Regional Moorland Groups and also sourced asset register data from wildfire response units in 2 geographic areas.
Whilst this survey work represents a fraction of what the game sector can mobilise nationwide, the data accounted for nearly £5m of critical equipment and well over 100 trained staff, experienced in prescribed burning.
£4,909,520 was the conservative value of combined equipment, although that figure will be much higher as things like 4x4 pick-ups were excluded and tractors were given a single unit value although many were 4x4 models.
Across the datasets, 104 tractors, 64 swipes/cutting tools, 58 fogging units, 89 Argos, JCB diggers, various tracked excavators and close to 200 leaf blowers could be mobilised.
Pumps, hoses, high-capacity water tankers and various other assets vital to tackling wildfire were not included but were available.
'More than just money'
Geographic data was obtained from the databases of the South Grampian Wildfire Group and the Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey Wildfire Forum which list all assets including forestry and NGO capacity.
“The monetary value of what game estates bring to the table is one thing -and the survey only shows a small geographic snapshot- it is the learned knowledge gamekeepers have, when you are in the heat of these fires, that is the most valuable thing,” said Craig Hepburn, SGA Youth Committee.
“Training is important, yes, but fighting a wildfire with flames you can’t see beyond and the wind constantly changing, you can’t train people for that. You need folk that know fire in these environments.”
Fellow Youth Committee member Malcolm Downie agreed: “If we get into a situation in Scotland, which we don’t need to be in, where gamekeepers can no longer carry out a management on peatlands which is known also to protect peatlands, then we are going backwards.
“You will lose equipment and knowledge. You will not have saved any carbon, either, because peatlands high with fuel load, burn.”
Ed Jaundrell of the SGA added: “There is too much at stake not to get sensible heads on. We need to get to a position with the Government where people can protect their ground properly and retain the ability to help.”
