Visitors to the countryside are urged to help prevent wildfires

dailyrecord.co.uk:

People are being urged to be vigilant in a bid to stop wildfires in the Renfrewshire countryside during the hot summer months.Scottish Water has joined calls to raise awareness of wildfire risks to prevent damage and help protect the environment and water supplies.The country’s public water services body is working with Forestry and Land Scotland and the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service to prevent potentially devastating outbreaks.Don't miss the latest headlines from around Renfrewshire.

Sign up to our newsletters here.There have been at least 12 wildfires in the past five years on land owned and managed as water catchments covering thousands of hectares in different parts of the country.In April, fire fighters were called out twice in just one week to the Gleniffer Braes following reports of youths setting fires in the area.About 70 per cent of Scotland’s public drinking water supply has its source in approximately 525,000 hectares of peatland and moorland.David Anderson, a catchment liaison officer in Scottish Water’s land management team, said: “We are seeing a dramatic increase in wildfires with the traditional wetter areas experiencing longer, drier periods than normal.

And we are seeing wildfires in areas not normally associated with wildfires.“Fires have the potential of setting peat on fire which can burn for long periods of time, possibly for a week or more.

If this happens, it can destroy the carbon capture properties of a healthy bog or moorland.“Soils are one of the biggest carbon reservoirs on earth, storing more of this element than the atmosphere and the above-ground biomass put together.