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This Strategic Action Plan on Wildfires sets out a coordinated approach to preventing, preparing for and responding to wildfires in Scotland.

Introduction

In 2025, Scotland experienced its most severe wildfire season on record. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) recorded a total of 241 wildfire incidents throughout the year, with 109 wildfires in April alone. These included the Glen Rosa wildfire on the Isle of Arran and a large wildfire in the Glen Trool area in Galloway Forest Park. A wildfire is classed as a large outdoor fire with over 1000 square metres of burned area.

Between 28 June and 2 July 2025, the wildfires around Carrbridge and Dava Moor were the largest ever recorded in the UK. With flames reaching 20m in length, they burned almost 10,000 hectares of moorland, peatland and woodland, destroying important habitats for wildlife and productive moorland and releasing thousands of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. The wildfires required a huge response from the SFRS over several days, working alongside local landowners, land managers, gamekeepers and community volunteers. Smoke from the wildfires spread over a wide area, affecting air quality in nearby towns. Local communities and businesses were disrupted through road closures.

The frequency and scale of wildfire incidents in Scotland have increased in recent years. Whilst human actions (intentional or accidental) are often a factor, climate change is intensifying wildfire risk through warmer temperatures and longer dry spells, particularly in Spring. This leads to reduced ground moisture, drier vegetation and a greater likelihood of ignition and fire spread. Scotland’s rural terrain, with its extensive peatlands and woodlands, is particularly vulnerable to this risk. Peat fires can smoulder underground for prolonged periods, releasing carbon and causing long-term damage to nature and wildlife.

Responding to wildfires can place immense pressure on Scotland’s rural communities, emergency services and the natural environment. They can devastate landscapes and biodiversity, threaten people’s homes and businesses, damage critical infrastructure and release vast amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, thereby undermining our efforts to mitigate climate change.

That is why, as we step up action to reduce Scotland’s wildfire risk, it is vital that this work is supported by national initiatives to strengthen resilience to all climate-related hazards, as outlined in the Scottish National Adaptation Plan.

Scotland is not alone in facing this challenge. The 2025 UK Climate Change Committee’s adaptation progress report said there was “now unequivocal evidence that climate change is making extreme weather in the UK, such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall and wildfire-conducive conditions more likely and extreme”. NASA estimates that extreme wildfire activity has more than doubled globally and that wildfire seasons are starting earlier in the Spring and extending later into autumn. The State of Wildfires 2024-25 report documents that globally, between March 2024 and February 2025, wildfires emitted over 8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide and caused around 215 billion USD losses in built assets. The report also highlights how climate change is fuelling an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme wildfires, thus increasing risks to people and nature. Wildfire emissions across the European Union reached their highest recorded level in 2025, with the wildfire season lengthening, intensifying and affecting a broader range of regions, including central and northern Europe as well as the Mediterranean countries.

The response to last year’s wildfires in Scotland from the SFRS and from rural communities, land owners and land-based workers was exceptional. Rural businesses contributed specialist equipment and skilled employees to support fire crews. The knowledge, equipment and rapid response of local land managers, working alongside the SFRS, played a vital role in protecting communities and the natural environment.

However, wildfires can no longer be viewed as a seasonal hazard and in order to safeguard Scotland’s communities, natural assets and economy it is vital to ensure that we have the right strategies, plans and assets in place in order to prevent, prepare for and respond to wildfires in 2026 and beyond. For these reasons, the Scottish Government has recognised the importance of preventing and managing wildfires – and the important role of the SFRS and their delivery partners within the Scottish Wildfire Forum (SWF) – in its current Programme for Government.

The Scottish Government has now developed a strategic action plan (the Action Plan) with a range of measures and activities that will improve wildfire prevention, preparedness and response. The Action Plan builds on the existing strong collaboration between public bodies, strategic partners and land managers. It has been developed in partnership with the SFRS, His Majesty’s Fire Service Inspectorate, public bodies and land managers. It takes account of a wide range of views, observations and recommendations that were captured during recent discussions, debriefs and engagement events. These have included:

• a Scottish Multi-Agency Resilience Training and Exercising Unit (SMARTEU) Debrief on 25 September 2025 to examine the multi-agency response to Scottish wildfires between 28 June and 2 July 2025. [The recommendations, observations, notable practices and sponsor comments from the debrief are included at Annex A].
• a Ministerial-led wildfire summit on 14 October 2025;
• a Ministerial Statement to the Scottish Parliament on 11 November 2025; and
• a roundtable discussion on wildfires with Members of the Scottish Parliament on 18 November 2025.

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