Wildfire in Suffolk.

[Rituelec]

I am feeling so sad about the wildfire in Suffolk at Dunwich Heath.

I don't live too far away, a few miles. This feels very close to home and I just feel sadness for the ecosystem and animals right now.

Very scary.

Ive walked that path through the Heather so many times :(

@endofthelinefinallyI never said they dig firebreaks 🙄🤷🏻‍♀️

I said they have catastrophically mismanaged their land and failed to put in firebreaks because they refuse to acknowledge how important fire breaks are

They had firebreaks. The strong winds swept the fire across the due to it's size and ferocity. Lots of flames, lots of heat, lots of tinder. 4.5m firebreaks in some places. It blew straight across the road.

I disagree about your land mismanagement too. You clearly don't know what the team do.

Me too 💔. The national trust have started a fund raiser so I'll be donating, but wish there was more i could do.

I agree.

My late DP and I had our last holiday together in Suffolk and loved Dunwich Heath. I actually cried a bit when I saw the devastation caused by the fire.

I find your post genuinely interesting. I am not on one side or another; I am just interested in an objective view of the situation. Where do I learn more please?

I was absolutely gutted when I heard about this. Visited a couple of weeks ago and fell in love, devastating for everyone involved.

I'd ban bloody disposable barbecues if I had the power.

There's no need for them, you can get those dinky little "briefcase" barbecues for around £30 and use them over and over again.

A few years ago, they were doing controlled burns in parts of the Ashdown Forest to establish whether or not it helped the ecology.

Sadly, I can't remember what the outcome was, but they certainly wouldn't be doing them at the moment.

with the news about the wild fires in france it makes you wonder if people intentionally set fires in this country

Sorry to be that person, but what are people going to do personally to make their own footprints lighter? There might not be a direct link between individual people and the fires, but there is a link. Is anyone prepared to stop their own consumerism in order to make less of an impact?

I know, I know, China, India etc. But unless people are prepared to look at what they do and say no, I'm not contributing to this anymore, there's not much point crying about wildfires destroying RSPB landscapes. Everyone has to change how they live, its as simple as that. Not doing anything because someone else isn't doing anything is a poor excuse really. What is happening to the planet is happening because of rampant capitalism. With fewer consumers, the corporations would have to change their ways.

I was agreeing with you.

I try and do my bit, but honestly when each week there seems to be more and more packaging on food, less of which can be recycled at home I think what’s the point? This is just one example.
Until the policy makers put the environment before the own purses there is little a single consumer can do that will make an impact.

I don’t think this is relevant to most places. Minsmere is tiny. It also suggests that nobody does anything about fire management and control. That’s isn’t true.

do you mean the plastics?
can they be taken to the soft plastic drop off?

What would personal practices done to have prevented the fire in Minsmere? I don’t understand the link between my personal consumption and the devastating fire that has occurred.

I know this question is meant well, but given the genuine heartache that many of us are currently feeling, a general hand waving about capitalism and overconsumption feels a bit tone deaf.

Tone deaf? Climate change is man made. We have heated up the planet, by not stopping our use of fossil fuels and plastic. There is NO point crying about the fires in Minsmere whilst taking 3 or 4 flights a year, or buying needless plastic crap because marketers peddle it. Christmas Eve boxes, Halloween costumes, party bags, off the top of my head, are all things that people think they need. There is a link between all that plastic shit and where the planet is now. It's not tone deaf at all, it's just that people don't want to acknowledge their part in where we've ended up.

As an RSPB member, I'm devastated at what has happened. But until people are prepared to look at how they live and stop buying and flying for the sake of it, this is only going to get worse.

Yes. We know. Just not now, please.

But if not now, when? Because when this summer has faded in memory, everyone will be up to their eyes in needless Christmas crap. Again.

The problem on the Moors near us (and lots of others) has been drainage. Drainage being too efficient and drying out places that wouid naturally stay wet (for farming, grouse shooting etc). Since we had the fires here a few years back, they have been blocking the drainage up, rewetting it, allowing the bogs to come back. It’s made a real difference.

Well. You are of course absolutely right 100% right. You could not be more right if you tried harder and, again of course, being a member of the RSPB, which no one else here is undoubtedly, just proves that you are completely incontrovertible in your arguments. And now is absolutely the right time to be pointing this out. You are so, so, right. Now please drop it.

Hear hear, @hairbearbunches. Well said.

Yes. A fifth “bin” to then take to another bin. Why make it harder? ALL plastics should be able to be put in the same bin.
Standing there pulling apart different parts of one food package, squinting to read the recycling instructions. It doesn’t encourage people, does it?

I'm not generally a fan of the death penalty, but I would be OK with it being restored for arson.

We don’t fly, we grow a lot of our own fruit and veg, we fix and mend and buy lot of things second hand.

So can I be sad about the fires?

Some of us even camp right by these places and in areas of natural beauty that can be savaged by fires like this. To name one I’ve been to many times kelling heath a wild fire sweeping though there would be devastating for the local area and wildlife.