Keep Bedfordshire’s flourishing countryside safe from wildfires urges summer campaign

The RSPB is joining Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service in a campaign to urge people to help them protect Bedfordshire’s RSPB nature reserves and wider countryside from wildfires this summer.

2023 was confirmed as the world’s hottest year on record according to the Met Office and 2024 could be another year of high temperatures, risking heatwaves and fires across the country.

In 2022, three fires burnt five hectares of grassland, crops and scrub at RSPB The Lodge, home to breeding birds, lizards, and insects. The fires were believed started by discarded cigarettes.

Now the charity is reminding visitors that barbecues and campfires are not permitted on RSPB England nature reserves, but picnics are very welcome to be bought from RSPB The Lodge café or from home. Smokers are being asked to take extra care when smoking and to extinguish cigarettes in a safe manner.

Visitors are also reminded to take home any litter as fires can be sparked from unlikely items during the warm, dry weather.

RSPB The Lodge nature reserve in Sandy boasts the largest stretch of heathland in the county, as well as acid grasslands, and towering oak woodland. The Lodge and the wider Bedfordshire countryside provides a home for a unique mix of wildlife including breeding Hobby, Nightjar, Raven, Linnet, Stonechat and Natterjack Toad on the heath. Large flocks of Thrushes and farmland birds visit in the winter, and Nuthatches, Woodpeckers, and Spotted Flycatchers search for food for their broods in the summer woodlands.

Peter Bradley, Senior Site Manager at RSPB The Lodge, said: “We are really grateful for the care and caution that most of our visitors take when exploring RSPB The Lodge and the wider countryside. However, fires can be started by items that people wouldn’t even consider a risk. The use of disposable barbecues is not allowed at RSPB sites as they are an obvious fire risk for green spaces, but even a glass drinks bottle left in dry heather, grasses or leaves can start a fire on a sunny day. And a discarded cigarette-end flicked can quickly turn into a blaze.”

Paul Barrows, Watch Commander - Sandy Community Fire Station, said: “Wildfires can ravage the local wildlife, destroying ecosystems in a matter of hours that have taken years to build up. Residual heat and embers from seemingly extinguished barbecues and fires can smoulder for some time undetected until they develop and spread to vegetation. These fires can be particularly challenging for firefighters to detect and extinguish.”

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service recommend these steps to help prevent wildfires:

Avoid having open fires or using barbecues in the countryside, extinguish smoking materials properly, and don’t throw cigarette ends on the ground or out of car windows – take your litter home.

If you see a fire in the countryside, call 999. Early detection can prevent it from developing into a large wildfire incident.

Ensure you know where you are located at all times – sometimes it’s tricky in woodland or on moors. Rescue location apps like What3Words can help with this.

For more info go to bit.ly/RSPBWildfires to find out how to prevent wildlife outbreaks.