Daily Mail rebuked over ‘irresponsible’ claim that rewilding has caused record number of UK wildfires

The Daily Mail has been rebuked after it ran a front page story yesterday claiming that ‘eco-dogma’ and ‘rewilding’, not climate change, has caused the record number of UK wildfires this summer.

New figures released on Wednesday by the National Fire Chiefs Council reveal that England and Wales have suffered 1,017 wildfires so far this year, already matching last year’s record-breaking total.

The Mail article quotes a spokesperson for landowners and a rewilding critic, who say ‘Labour’s rewilding drive’ and the restrictions on controlled vegetation burning, have turned “swathes of countryside into tinderboxes”, causing the wildfires.

Rewilding is where vegetation is left to grow naturally with minimal human intervention, helping ecosystems to recover and supporting greater biodiversity.

Another figure quoted in the article was Andrew Gilruth from the Moorland Association, who said: “Rewilding sounds like a good idea, unless you end up facing a wall of flames.”

He also claimed that there is “far, far too much vegetation covering our landscapes” and until rewilding is reversed “the wildfires will get worse and worse”. 

The article does mention that temperatures have reached 38 degrees this week, but it doesn’t mention climate change or the role that rising temperatures play in wildfires spreading.

Climate science shows that higher temperatures driven by climate change dry out plants and make them more flammable. Scientists also maintain that most fires are started by humans.

There is also evidence that rewilding captures carbon dioxide and helps create a variety of vegetation and healthy water-retaining soils, reducing the likelihood of wildfires. 

Reacting to the Daily Mail’s claims about rewilding causing wildfires, Rachel Millward, deputy leader of the Green Party, told Left Foot Forward: “This is another deeply irresponsible headline from a deeply irresponsible newspaper. 

“As usual The Daily Mail is turning reality on its head and denying its readers the facts about climate change. The Mail seeks to blame the climate crisis on anything other than its main cause – burning fossil fuels.

“Alongside cutting down our fossil fuel use, rewilding is one of key things we can do to slow global warming. It draws down planet-warming carbon dioxide, provides shade and cools the land, helps prevent flooding, and starts to restore the huge variety of wildlife and plant life that we have been losing.”

Friends of the Earth’s senior nature campaigner, Sienna Somers, also called out the Mail’s claims, stating: “The reason vast swathes of Britain are burning is climate change, not rewilding – and it’s ridiculous to suggest otherwise.

“Without tougher action to protect communities and curb the emissions that are driving the climate crisis, things will only get worse.”

Somers added: “Decades of degrading our land have helped create this situation. Rivers have been straightened and wetlands drained, creating tinder-dry conditions for wildfires to rip across our landscape.

“Rewilding and restoring nature at scale should be treated as national infrastructure. We need to invest in transforming our degraded peatlands, rivers, wetlands and woodlands so they can hold and store water, provide shade, reduce the risk of fire and drought, and help protect communities from flooding.

“Restoring nature and rewilding are part of the solution – not the problem.”

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward