In light of the devastating wildfires this month, we wanted talk to a member of our community who helps to manage the uplands that have been burned. UKY4N volunteer and uplands common manager Jake Cohen, kindly shared his reflections on this landscape wide tragedy. Not So Freshwater

Jake Cohen:

“Across the land I look after, fires have devastated 1600 hectares of upland landscape.

The size, scale and impact of such a fire is quite difficult to fathom and has both short term and long-term consequences.

The fire has torn through our last known stronghold of breeding Golden Plover (which are just about clinging on as a breeding species in Wales) and through the last three years of peat restoration efforts. The top layer of peat has been burned away, thereby emitting thousands of years worth of carbon dioxide that would otherwise have stayed in the ground. Furthermore, the freshly exposed peat will now dry out, erode and therefore release further emissions and contribute to habitat loss.

I went out last week to inspect some of the damage and found frogs and shrews burnt on the spot, as well as a lone male Golden Plover seemingly refusing to abandon his territory. Even if he does manage a nest, the lack of invertebrates leaves him and any potential chicks with very little chance. There was no Skylark or Meadow Pipit song which is usually rife this time of year and the miles and miles of blackened landscape was quite shocking. Our eyes, noses and clothing were choked with ash. It was a distressing and bizarre experience.

Upland Ecology

Fire damage also affects the long-term ecosystem as it encourages grasses, which hold their nutrients underground, to thrive, become dominant, and upset the delicate balance of this unique ecosystem. Grasses regenerate quickly and the fresh shoots are great for grazing livestock, but this rapid reproduction means that nothing else has the chance to come through. These dominant grasses create a dry level of vegetation, further increasing the fire hazard and thus creating a feedback loop.

Unfortunately, this is not an accidental wild fire – the fire services have deemed this fire to be ‘deliberate’ which just shows that we have quite a lot of work to do! Although this is a really mournful time for us – the fire didn’t reach rich areas of cattle grazing and more recent peat restoration sites, and the peat burn was only surface level and doesn’t appear to go deeper. So, we take stock and move forward!”