From BBC
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Environment correspondent, BBC Wales News
Clare Hutchinson
BBC News
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Some of the UK’s rarest wildlife is being “torched alive” and pushed closer to extinction after weeks of intense grass fires, conservationists have warned.
They include endangered birds like hen harriers and water voles, which are now the UK’s fastest declining mammal.
The National Trust said it believed ongoing wildfires at Abergwesyn common in Powys had destroyed “the last remaining” local breeding habitat for golden plovers – considered one of the most beautiful birds of the British uplands.
So far this year 110 sq miles (284 sq km) of land has been burnt by wildfires around the UK – an area larger than Birmingham.
Figures obtained by the BBC show that in Wales, fire crews have battled almost 1,400 wildfires already this year, leading fire services to urge people to “act responsibly” and report any suspicious behaviour to the police.
The National Trust said 2025 was “turning out to be the worst year ever for these human-caused fires across the country”.
“We’re extremely worried, this is looking like it’s going to be the worst year for seeing our wildlife going up in flames,” said Ben McCarthy, the charity’s head of nature conservation.
A record dry spell and unusually high temperatures in March are believed to have contributed to the fires. A low number of blazes in 2024 also left more vegetation to fuel them.
Coed Cadw, the Woodland Trust in Wales, said an “irreplaceable” area of temperate Atlantic rainforest
