A month-long wildfire that devastated more than 2,500 hectares of the Loch Garten and Abernethy nature reserve in the Cairngorms has prompted RSPB Scotland to rethink how it protects "rewilded" land from fire. The blaze, which forced the evacuation of a village and sent smoke as far as Aberdeen, has fuelled debate over whether ecological restoration leaves landscapes more vulnerable to uncontrolled fires, a claim the charity disputes even as it commits to significant changes in land management.

RSPB Scotland is focusing on four areas: widening fire breaks, since heather fires can reach six-metre flames requiring breaks three times that height; creating more ponds and wetlands to supply water for firefighting; managing heather; and tree planting. Experts also point to peatland restoration as a defence, citing a 2019 fire near Melvich, Sutherland, where previously re-wetted peat suffered only superficial damage, with researchers calling for the current 400,000-hectare restoration target by 2040 to be pursued more urgently.