Campfires and BBQs to be banned in Cairngorms after devastating Scotland wildfires

Scottish ministers have approved a new byelaw that will ban fires within the national park between April 1 and September 30 from next year.

Fines of up to £500 per offence will be enforced. Leaflets, social media messages and signs will be used across the 1,748 square miles of the park. The byelaw will not cover barbecues in private gardens.

This comes after parts of the park in the Highlands and Moray were damaged by numerous wildfires in late June and early July. Scottish Land & Estates estimates the Dava and Carrbridge wildfires covered 29,225 acres - an area almost 30 times bigger than Strathclyde Park.

Human activity is often to blame for wildfires starting, including by barbecues or litter such as glass bottles magnifying sunlight onto dry vegetation and discarded cigarettes. These fires then often spread incredibly quickly due to the peaty soil on the Cairngorm moorlands.

Get daily political analysis - subscribe for free to The Steamie

Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said: “In introducing a fire byelaw of this kind, the Cairngorms National Park Authority is leading the way in safeguarding Scotland’s natural and cultural heritage from climate crisis threats.

“The wildfires we saw around Scotland earlier this year only remind us of how urgent this issue is, and I commend the park authority and partners on the huge amount of work they are doing to take forward this byelaw and a range of other mitigation measures.”

The national park authority had asked for the byelaw to be introduced following an “extensive” public consultation. The body will now work with Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) to enforce the ban.

Sandy Bremner, convener of the Cairngorms National Park Authority, said: “The Cairngorms is loved and cherished by so many of us, and we all want to protect and safeguard this incredible place. This byelaw will help us to do just that.

“Now that it has been approved by Scottish ministers, we’re committed to taking forward a range of practical measures to reduce wildfire risk in the national park - from signage and communications to training and enforcement.

“Of course, it’s up to all of us to play our part so that the national park can be enjoyed by generations to come, and the new fire byelaw is just one piece of the jigsaw.

“From our climate adaptation fund to our integrated wildfire management plan, the park authority is committed to working in collaboration with communities and partners to reduce the impacts of climate change and support all those impacted by the threat of wildfires.”

An “extreme” wildfire warning is now in place across Scotland on Thursday and Friday this week. This is a rare occurrence in September - the last wildfire warning this late in the year was in 2020.

The SFRS said the wildfire risk was greatest in the west of Scotland.

Group Commander Serge Kabamba said: “Scotland has faced an unprecedented scale of wildfire risk this year. We recognise temperatures are dropping across the country and people might not think that the risk is there. However, the effects of this year’s spring drought are still visible across the landscape, with dry soils and browned vegetation increasing the risk of fire.

“We are asking the public to exercise extreme caution and think twice before using anything involving a naked flame.”