UK Wildfire Conference coming to Belfast

Date published: 07 November 2022

The UK Wildfire Conference 2022, “The Human Dimension” is being jointly hosted by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS)on the 9th and 10th November in the Europa Hotel, Belfast.

DARD News

The wildfire conference is held bi-annually across the UK and focusses on sharing knowledge about the threat to landscapes in the UK from wildfire.  This year the emphasis of the conference will be the Human Dimension. The conference will be looking at the role mankind plays in creating, managing and solving the wildfire problem, which is important to DAERA, NIFRS and stakeholders alike.

Dr Mark Hammond, Northern Ireland Environment Agency, Chairman of the Northern Ireland Wildfire Stakeholder Holder Forum said: “We are no stranger to wildfires in Northern Ireland. The focus of this year’s conference highlights the role that humans have in creating and managing the wildfire problem” 

“This conference will be a great opportunity for delegates to share and discuss a broad range of wildfire issues, how land management and human activity influences landscapes and wildfire risk, and how we influence these to help reduce incidence and impacts of wildfire, and build landscape resilience.  This will be extremely important as we face up to the challenges that climate change brings to the wildfire debate.”

Area Commander Mark Smyth, NIFRS, said “This conference is an opportunity to learn from each other and reflect on how humans contribute to the challenges wildfires bring but more importantly it’s also an opportunity to discuss how humans can play an important role in addressing wildfire issues.”

“We have brought together a wide range of organisations and individuals, from first responders to land managers, academics to government departments, who are working on the many facets of the wildfire problem, including the role of human involvement”

Notes to editors: 

  1. The conference is an opportunity to bring together not only leading personnel from the UK, Europe and further afield. There will also be a diverse range of specialists representing the UK and Irish Fire and Rescue Services, Government Departments and Agencies, land managers and farmers, environmental & conservation organisations and Universities.
  2. The programme includes keynote speakers from Australia, France, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Northern Ireland, providing important insight into the human side of the wildfire issue. Other presenters come from across UK and Ireland as well as Europe, North America and Canada, and represent a wide variety of stakeholder organisations. There will be exhibition stands from equipment suppliers and poster presentations of recent and current cutting-edge wildfire research.
  3. UK Wildfire Conference

  • The UK Wildfire Conference is held on a bi-annual basis and was last held in Cardiff in 2019 and has been delayed a year due to Covid-19.
  • The conference consistently attracts a wide range of delegates from across UK and Irish Fire and Rescue Services, Government Departments and Agencies, land managers and farmers, environmental & conservation organisations, and Universities.
  • The conference this year is focussing on the human dimension to wildfires including such things as
  • Communication - between agencies, communities, individuals and government
  • Leadership – who leads the changes required and how
  • Behaviour – managing and changing behaviours
  • Health and Land Management – tackling new and emerging wildfire health and land management issues
  • Demographics – shifting populations and risks impacting wildfires
  • Partnerships – managing relationships across different sectors.
  • Over 170, delegates, speakers and exhibitors have booked so far to attend the conference.
  • This is the first time the conference has come to Northern Ireland.

Download more information on the conference.

  1. Follow DAERA on Twitter and Facebook.
  2. All media queries should be directed to the DAERA Press Office: pressoffice.group@daera-ni.gov.uk
  3. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.

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