The commercial costs of forest fires are as significant as the conservation concerns they raise, Central Insurance has warned.
Central, one of the biggest independent insurance brokers in the UK, and a woodland insurance specialist, issued the warning after wild fires ravaged rural sites across the country. Fire crews have been battling blazes across the UK since the weekend, including large scale fires in Ross-shire, in the Scottish Highlands, which destroyed about 10 square miles of vegetation and caused £100,000 of damage.
Experts have said that the hottest April on record, with only 52 per cent of the usual rainfall, created tinderbox conditions.
Tom Aldridge, Central’s Regional Director, said: "People need to appreciate the value of trees. With many forests owned as investments, it is literally someone’s pension or trust fund that is going up in smoke.
"While most commercial and privately owned forests are insured in some way, we would urge forest managers to ensure they have adequate cover to pay for helicopter support, which can cost up £900 per hour. If a fire burns for several days, the bill soon mounts up.
"Obtaining the correct insurance value of the crop is also vital. A forest fire can put back a woodland investment by several years as tidying is required on site before replanting can occur."
Among Central’s clients is Scottish Woodlands Ltd, a leading forestry management company which provides growing timber insurance solutions to its clients across the UK. Scottish Woodlands manages approximately 35 per cent of the UK private commercial forestry market, providing about 700 policies with an estimated total insurance value of £342 million placed via Central’s broking team in Glasgow. Several individual policies are worth millions of pounds.
Rob Shaw, SEQ (safety, environment, quality) & contracts director at Scottish Woodland, said: "The priority for forest owners when selecting insurance is to arrange adequate protection for their property, which should include accurate values at risk and extinguishment costs.
"The big fires I have seen over the past 20 years have all required helicopter support. The Fire Master in charge will ultimately decide on bringing in a helicopter, and in our scheme that decision can also be made by Scottish Woodland managers.
"In an uninsured position, however, where life or dwellings are not under threat, helicopter companies won’t attend a private forest fire until it is clear who is going to foot the bill."
Tom Aldridge added: "We hope the public will remain vigilant at this time and take all possible precautions against starting fires accidentally, including extinguishing cigarettes properly, removing glass objects and not lighting fires or barbeques near woodland, heath land or dry grass."