When wildfires tear across the countryside, the human impact rightly makes headlines. But another group of victims is too often forgotten.
The wild animals who have nowhere safe to go.
They cannot understand why their homes are suddenly engulfed in flames. They cannot call for help. Some desperately try to flee, while others hide beneath the ground or shelter in nests as the fire closes in around them.
To expose the devastating impact of wildfires on British wildlife, we have produced a powerful new animation which you can watch below.
Please watch it, share it and sign our petition calling on the Government to confront the climate emergency before even more lives are lost.
Wildlife has nowhere to run
Wildfires do not simply burn trees and vegetation. They destroy entire habitats and kill the animals living within them.
Mammals can be trapped by fast-moving flames. Birds may be forced to abandon their nests and chicks. Reptiles, amphibians and insects can be killed in enormous numbers. Even animals that initially escape may return to find their homes, food sources and shelter completely destroyed.
The suffering does not end when the flames are extinguished. Animals can be left with horrific burns, breathing difficulties, dehydration and injuries. Those that survive the immediate fire may still die later because the habitat they depended upon has disappeared.
Yet their suffering is so often reduced to a footnote, if it is mentioned at all.
This is not a distant threat
The climate emergency is not something waiting for us in the future. Its consequences are already unfolding across the UK.
Hotter, drier conditions are increasing the danger of devastating wildfires, while our already depleted wildlife is being forced to endure yet another growing threat.
Britain is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Our wildlife cannot afford continued political delay while its remaining habitats burn.
Warm words and distant promises will not protect animals from the flames. We need urgent action that recognises the scale of the crisis, cuts emissions and protects and restores the habitats wildlife needs to survive.
Our animation tells the story of the victims who cannot speak for themselves.