Ecosystems 'decimated' by catalogue of wildfires

WHOLE ecosystems have been "decimated" and endangered species put at risk after weeks of wildfires across the UK, charities have warned.

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One of the driest Marches in decades, combined with warmer than average temperatures in April, has led to the UK being hit by one of the worst fire seasons on record.

Vast areas of habitat for small mammals and birds, as well as butterflies, beetles and falcons, have been damaged, while peat bogs may take "hundreds of years" to recover.

Abergwesyn Common in Powys, Wales, was consumed by a 1,600-hectare fire an area roughly 400 times the size of the Principality Stadium.

And National Trust rangers fear the breeding habitat of the area's last-known population of golden plovers, a rare, protected bird found in upland moorlands, will have been lost.

Chris Smith, the National Trust's countryside manager for mid and south Wales, said: "The sheer scale of the fire on Abergwesyn Common is hard to fathom.

"As a Site of Special Scientific Interest, the impacts on wildlife are widespread, with birds' nests, insects, amphibians and reptiles all scorched by fire. Whole ecosystems have been decimated and will remain altered well into the future.

"Alongside this, the huge loss of surface vegetation leaves the peat bogs we have been working hard to restore and re-wet vulnerable to erosion and at further risk of fire and carbon loss.