The RSPB team in the Cairngorms has spoken out over "criticisms of its management" during the wildfire.
Firefighters continue to work in Cairngorms National Park – four weeks after a wildfire began near the Ryvoan Bothy, close to Aviemore as they continue to dampen down hotspots within the area.
RSPB Loch Garten, Abernethy is the RSPB’s public-facing nature-centre site within Abernethy National Nature Reserve, near Nethy Bridge in the Cairngorms. The Loch Garten Nature Centre is currently closed because of the ongoing Cairngorms wildfire response. RSPB says the closure enables staff and partner agencies to concentrate on managing the fire.
The team behind the non-profit's operations in the area have now addressed concerns about management.
Ryvoan Bothy in the Cairngorms, the recent wildfire is thought to have started about 400m away from the bothy. Picture date: Wednesday July 29, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Peter Jolly/PA Wire (Image: Peter Jolly)
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Scottish Fire and Rescue Service firefighters in Nethy Bridge, close to the wildfire in the Cairngorms National Park which has been declared a major incident. More than 500 firefighters have tackled the blaze over the last 10 days, alongside specialist wildfire appliances, all-terrain vehicles, helicopter water-bombing operations and partner agencies. Picture date: Saturday July 25, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Michal Wachucik/PA Wire (Image: Michal Wachucik/PA Wire)
A spokesperson fo RSPB Loch Garten, Abernethy said: "We are continuing to work closely with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in tackling this ongoing fire. As part of these efforts and to support the teams involved, this includes providing use of many of the facilities at Forest Lodge. Through collaborating closely with the SFRS team, we are carefully managing the demands on resource in the space.
"We are aware of criticisms which have been made about this management, and we would like to address this. In addition to resident families at Forest Lodge, volunteers from amongst more than 300 people who have been tirelessly fighting the fire and supporting the immense effort over the past several weeks have used residential parts of the building to sleep at times.
"Unfortunately, people accessing those areas unexpectedly was disrupting opportunities to rest and created further health and safety concerns. This was raised in meetings with SFRS and it became clear that signage was required to support and protect the safety of volunteers and residents, which includes families with young children.
"Creating separate spaces for volunteers, contractors and staff of RSPB to SFRS has meant that management of food and Health and Safety protocols are more effective. SFRS are provided with hot drink making facilities in Forest Lodge, toilets during the day and all the food generously provided by the community is available to their crews as they co-ordinate the collections and delivery themselves.
"SFRS have also had a welfare unit based at Forest Lodge at times, which helps reduce pressure on the water supply.
