Britons have been banned from more than 250,000 acres of woodland over a “risk of ignition” following a scorching summer that brought a record number of wildfires.
The growing wildfire threat emerged as hotter, drier conditions fuelled blazes, with Baroness Young of Old Scone, chair of the Forestry Commission warning sites had experienced a “shedload” of fires – many of which never formally reported.
As a result, the Forestry Commission has closed parts of its estate, including areas of the New Forest, Wykeham Forest in North Yorkshire, Colliers’ Wood near Manchester and Shouldham in Norfolk.
Baroness Young said officials had decided to take the step, as simply putting up warning signs could not reduce the risk of visitors accidentally starting fires.
“We stopped access because it was just too risky to have people and the risk of ignition,” she said.
The commission manages more than 250,000 acres of land in England across 1,500 wooded areas, where public access is considered vital, and rarely restricted.
Baroness Young said restrictions only ever came into force when the danger became particularly serious.
Recent fires included a blaze at Dunwich Heath in Suffolk, on land managed by the National Trust and RSPB, which threatened neighbouring properties, while a separate New Forest fire was started by a burning vehicle.
The commission was first considering whether wider firebreaks should be created alongside roads passing through forests.
Such measures are believed to provide a permanent defence against fires, rather than being introduced only during emergencies.
Firebreaks have already been created during some recent incidents, using bulldozers to remove vegetation and slow the spread of flames.
The Forestry Commission chair also called for bolstered investment in water supplies and firefighting equipment, with some fires fought over the summer burning for more than 10 days.
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Many woodland reservoirs were built during the Victorian era and are now ageing, while firefighters responding to the New Forest blaze had to pump water through an 8km hose from a lake.
Baroness Young said Britain should also have greater access to helicopters and other advanced firefighting resources, pointing to the support available when fires broke out in Europe.
She backed calls for tougher action on disposable barbecues, describing them as a significant fire hazard, after Prime Minister Andy Burnham operating a temporary ban over summer.
Beyond the effects of wildfires, the commission is also considering how Britain’s forests should adapt to climate change.
Baroness Young said better woodland management was needed, pointing to Stourhead in Wiltshire, which uses “continuous cover forestry”, in which individual trees or small groups are harvested while maintaining an overall forest canopy.
She said the approach could create woodland that is both more resilient to a warming climate and more attractive for visitors, as well as provide greater control of deer and grey squirrels, which damage young trees and strip bark from timber.
The chair of the commission also called for Britain to increase domestic timber production, with the UK importing about 80 per cent of its timber, and should be regarded as critical national infrastructure.
Despite concerns over extreme weather, Baroness Young said the commission could not afford to give up: “It’s like any challenge. You might not win. But giving up is not an option.”
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