The National Trust has launched an emergency fundraising drive after a wildfire ripped through Dunwich Heath leaving the landscape “unrecognisable” and causing total devastation
Firefighters are still battling a blaze that has caused “total devastation” to heathland in Suffolk, with the National Trust launching a public appeal to restore the beloved reserve.
The charity has kicked off an emergency fundraising campaign after the wildfire tore through Dunwich Heath, near Leiston, leaving the landscape “unrecognisable”.
National Trust director-general Hilary McGrady has described the “heartbreaking” loss of a vital habitat that was home to a number of rare species. The charity said the heath was a crucial area for wildlife such as nightjars, skylarks and the rare Dartford warbler, as well as adders, lizards and slow worms, and butterflies including the rare silver-studded blue.
The lowland heath habitat is amongst the UK’s rarest, and an estimated 92% of it has been lost in England over the last 120 years, it added.
In a statement on Friday, Ms McGrady said: “We are looking at total devastation of a beloved and important landscape. We’ve lost precious habitats, wildlife, trees, and a place where people have made memories over generations. It’s heartbreaking.
“But together we can and will restore Dunwich and, crucially, make it more resilient and better adapted for the climate we’re facing now, and the climate we’ll be facing in future.
“We’re working hard to tackle climate change and prepare for more of it, but there’s more hard work to be done. We can’t do it alone. We’re a charity that relies on public support in so many ways. If you can donate, however much, please don’t hesitate.
“Your money will go directly to the restoration of Dunwich, to regrow habitats and homes for wildlife, build more resilience into the landscape, and return this iconic place to the nation.”
Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service said crews have made “good progress” in tackling the wildfire but warned the situation remained “dynamic and potentially changeable”.
Footage from the scene shows the once lush, coastal area, renowned for its sweeping carpet of purple heather, reduced to a scorched and desolate wasteland, still smouldering in the aftermath.
Crews pressed on battling the blaze on Friday, while evacuated residents and holidaymakers were granted a brief window to retrieve essential belongings under police escort.
Firefighters across the country have been contending with similar, though smaller, blazes. More than 20 fire services have been responding to fires amid hot and dry conditions which have left half of England and all of Wales in drought.
Crews in Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire, London, North Wales, Yorkshire, Co Durham and Darlington, Berkshire, Leicestershire, Bedfordshire, Greater Manchester, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Humberside, Dorset and Wiltshire, Devon and Somerset, Nottinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Kent, Merseyside, West Sussex, Surrey, and Norfolk have all reported dealing with fires in the open.
“On Tuesday, the National Fire Chiefs Council revealed that over 200 wildfires had been reported across England and Wales in under a fortnight, with wildfire risk remaining “elevated”.
You can donate to the fundraiser here.
