Many of us watched the Los Angeles fires last January, which destroyed over 16,000 buildings, or those in South Korea, which killed over 30 people in March 2025. For years, wildfires were treated as a distant problem, common in hotter, drier climates, not our own. This summer proved otherwise.
In August, a fire in Stourbridge tore through 40 acres of dry grassland, destroying homes and hospitalising a child and three firefighters [1]. Weeks earlier, a fire on Dunwich Heath in Suffolk, a rare heathland visited by over 100,000 people each year, burned over 140 hectares, leaving the site "loved for its sweeping purple heather" damaged "almost beyond recognition," according to the National Trust, with wildlife including nightjars and adders killed [2].
These weren't one-off headlines. England and Wales have already surpassed 1,000 wildfires in 2026, matching last year's total by August [3]. The Climate Change Committee called 2025 the UK's most destructive wildfire season on record [4].
The cost goes beyond habitats and animals lost. Tourism and local economies suffer, and a severe wildfire can degrade a catchment's water quality for over a decade - frightening given 70% of UK drinking water comes from peatland catchments [5].
The Stourbridge fire destroyed 19 homes, bringing catastrophic personal and financial loss. Our new Prime Minister recently said "everything starts with a good home" [6], and I'm pleased to see him put safe, decent housing at the centre of his mission. But there is little point building 1.5 million new homes on land vulnerable to wildfires or other environmental extremes.
This month's updated National Planning Policy Framework recognises wildfire risk in planning for the first time [7]. This acknowledgement is long-needed, but our approach to managing this risk has a blind spot. That wildfires are a climate problem and an emergency-response problem, isn't in dispute. But they're also a land management problem.
Ignition of these fires tends to be triggered by human activity, like cigarette waste or barbecues. But a fire's spread depends on the land: how much moisture it holds, how dense the vegetation is, how it's grazed or drained.
Nature can be our first line of defence against fire, not just something else destroyed in its path that we have to restore afterwards. Already, ecologists around the country are working with farmers and communities on nature-based solutions that prevent fires before they start.
In the Scottish Borders, the Eddleston Water Project has re-meandered river sections and created new wetland storage, holding water as a natural firebreak [8]. On the Gower Commons in Wales, a community cattle herd grazes down molinia, the flammable grass fuelling wildfires, keeping vegetation short and lowering risk [9].
In the Flow Country in Scotland, the world's largest blanket bog is being rewetted after decades of drainage for forestry. Healthy peatlands act as fire-resistant sponges, storing water and reducing fire risk. Ecologists there have blocked old drainage channels and removed conifer plantations; restoring the waterlogged ground can stop fire in its tracks.
Proper land management and nature restoration aren't a nice-to-have, they're critical defence systems for the homes and communities of the future. The government's Land Use Framework called for moorland and peatland restoration, England's "natural water towers" [10]. The principle exists, but delivery is lacking.
Now we need better coordination between the areas of government responsible for building homes and delivering environmental improvement to deliver effective protection of the land we build on. Professional ecologists advise, design and deliver these win-win outcomes, when their expertise is consulted early.
If Labour is serious about climate adaptation and safe homes for all, it shouldn't overlook a firefighter hiding in plain sight: the land itself and the ecological experts who know how to harness it.
References
References
[1] ITV News Central, 'Nearly 40 homes damaged or destroyed as Midlands wildfires continue' — https://www.itv.com/news/central/2026-08-14/it-still-hasnt-sunk-in-couple-lost-their-home-in-devastating-fire
[2] National Trust, 'Devastating fire sweeps Dunwich Heath' — https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/support-us/appeals/dunwich-heath
[3] RNZ/Reuters, 'Wildfires in Britain hit record levels after homes burn in intense heat', citing NFCC chair Phil Garrigan — https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/1005142/wildfires-in-britain-hit-record-levels-after-homes-burn-in-intense-heat
[4] Climate Change Committee, 'A Well-Adapted UK' — https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/a-well-adapted-uk/
[5] University of Leeds research on post-wildfire catchment water quality, cited by the Moorland Association — https://www.moorlandassociation.org/post/new-climate-change-committee-report-moorlands-need-practical-wildfire-management
[6] Andy Burnham, quoted in ITV News — https://www.itv.com/news/2026-06-28/andy-burnham-labour-leadership-major-speech-proposes-no-10-in-north
[7] GOV.UK 'National Planning Policy Framework', published 17 August 2026 — https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-planning-policy-framework
[8] Tweed Forum, 'The Eddleston Water Project' — https://tweedforum.org/our-work/projects/the-eddleston-water-project/
[9] FarmingUK, 'Cow-sharing scheme uses cattle to tackle Welsh wildfire risk'
[10] GOV.UK, 'The Land Use Framework for England' — https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/land-use-framework/the-land-use-framework-for-england-accessible
