On a warm July afternoon in the Flow Country, the light catches the mosses in a way that makes the landscape seem to breathe. The air is still, but the ground beneath your boots holds its quiet pulse of water. Restoration teams walk the ridge lines checking the peat dams that now slow the flow of water across the bog. Even after the intense heatwaves of 2023 and 2024, and the record-breaking summer of 2025, the moss glimmers with stored moisture. It looks unassuming, yet it is one of the most effective fire prevention systems we have, built not from steel or concrete but from living, breathing earth.
The rising threat and the missing wetlands
Wildfire seasons are lengthening across Europe and North America, and the past three years have set a troubling pattern. The UK recorded more than seven hundred and fifty wildfires in 2023. Scotland faced its largest ever wildfire in May 2024 near Cannich, which burned for over a week. Ireland saw repeated upland fires in Donegal and Mayo in spring 2024. By early autumn 2025, England and Wales had already experienced their highest number of wildfire incidents on record.
The urgency is sharpened by 2025’s climate extremes. The Met Office confirmed that the summer of 2025 was the hottest ever recorded in the UK, with mean temperatures more than one and a half degrees above the long-term average. Heatwaves began earlier and lasted longer than expected. Under these conditions, soils, peat and vegetation dry rapidly. Recent research from the University of Birmingham shows that the moisture buffers that once protected heathlands and peat soils are now being overwhelmed by extreme heat, leaving landscapes increasingly fragile.
A surprising part of this story lies beneath our feet. Decades of peatland drainage have weakened vast areas of wetland. Once the water leaves, the land loses its natural resistance to fire. What should be a living sponge becomes a tinderbox.
Degraded wetlands lose more than moisture. They shed biodiversity, release carbon and disconnect themselves from the hydrological systems that once kept surrounding communities safe. In a warming climate, that disconnection has consequences we can no longer ignore.
Major Global Wildfire Events, 2022–2025
Date | Location | Area Affected | Casualties | Estimated Economic Cost |
June–Aug 2022 | Spain, Portugal, France | ~785,000 ha | 17 deaths | Over €3 billion |
July 2022 | California, USA (McKinney Fire) | 24,330 ha | 4 deaths | $250 million |
Sept 2022 | Chile Central Region | ~100,000 ha | 46 deaths | ~$1.5 billion |
Aug 2023 | Hawaii, USA (Lahaina Fire) | 880 ha plus urban areas | 101 deaths | >$5.5 billion |
Summer 2023 | Canada (Nationwide) | 18.5 million ha | 2 firefighters | $10–11 billion |
July–Aug 2023 | Greece (Evros) | 378,000 ha | 20 deaths | €1.6 billion |
Late 2023–Early 2024 | Australia (Queensland and NSW) | 1.2 million ha | 3 deaths | AUD $500 million |
Feb–Mar 2024 | Chile (Valparaíso) | 44,000 ha | 137 deaths | ~$2 billion |
July 2024 | California (Lake Fire) | 15,300 ha | 0 deaths | ~$150 million |
Summer 2024 | Siberia, Russia | ~6 million ha | Not reported | Billions (unconfirmed) |
Aug 2024 | Portugal (Odemira Fire) | 8,400 ha | 1 firefighter | Tens of millions of euros |
Jan–Feb 2025 | South Africa (Western Cape) | 25,000 ha | At least 4 deaths | Hundreds of millions of rand |
Restoring bogs, restoring resilience
Nature-based Solutions have risen in prominence because they address climate and ecological risks at the same time. Bog restoration is one of the most powerful. When a bog is re-wetted, its soils remain cool even during intense heat. Plants such as Sphagnum moss hold extraordinary amounts of water and act as natural firebreaks, slowing or stopping the spread of flames across a landscape.
Dams used as part of peatbog restoration projects
Restoration follows a simple logic. Block the old drainage channels. Install peat dams. Encourage the return of the plant communities that thrive in saturated ground. Once the water returns, the ecosystem follows. The return of water is also the return of safety.
A case from the Highlands
In the Flow Country, one of the world’s largest peatland restoration programmes is showing how wetlands can reshape wildfire behaviour. Over thirty five thousand hectares have been restored. A 2023 monitoring report revealed that restored sites held significantly higher soil moisture levels during heatwaves than nearby drained areas. Fire and rescue teams confirmed that restored peatlands acted as containment zones during several blazes, reducing their intensity and providing safer access points for firefighters.
After a grassland fire in 2019 stalled at the edge of a restored bog, local residents began referring to the wetlands as a natural shield. The science continues to support that intuition.
How wetlands control heat and water
Healthy bogs store water across the seasons and release it slowly. They regulate local hydrology, support ecosystems downstream and reduce both flood and drought risk. In wildfire conditions, the same water acts as a thermal buffer. Moist soils remain cooler than the surrounding land and resist ignition for far longer.
Studies from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology show that restored bogs can retain up to fifty per cent more surface moisture during dry spells than degraded sites. A small difference in moisture content can be the difference between a manageable fire and a dangerous one.
Voices from the field
Dr Esther Freeman, a wetland ecologist, describes bog restoration as landscape-level insurance. “When you re-wet a peatland,” she explains, “you are returning the memory of water to a place. That memory changes how the land responds to heat and stress.”
Ireland’s Bord na Móna has observed similar patterns. Ground temperatures on restored sites remained markedly lower during the 2024 heatwave, reducing ignition risk and supporting new vegetation.
A changing global landscape
Interest in wetland-based fire prevention is rising. California is studying the role of high-elevation wetlands in slowing megafires. Spain and Ireland are scaling up peatland projects. The European Union has embedded peatland restoration into its Nature Restoration Law as a key measure for climate resilience.
These efforts share a common understanding. The resilience we build today begins long before the next spark lands. Wetlands hold that resilience quietly, in their water and their roots.
Looking ahead
As the climate warms, summers like that of 2025 will become more common. Fire seasons will start earlier and last longer. Yet there is hope in the places that still hold water. Bog restoration is not fast, but it is effective. A blocked ditch can transform a landscape’s fire risk within a few seasons.
Some solutions arrive in the world softly. A returning moss. A rise in the water table. A landscape that refuses to burn. The wetlands are watching, and with the right care, they are ready to help.
