The Queen’s private Scottish estate has warned over the risk of wild infernos after continually finding the remnants of camp fires.
Balmoral took to social media to vent its anger at the number of abandoned fires in the ancient Caledonian Pine Forest on the 55,000 acre estate.
The estate is home to a range of wildlife, including red squirrels, capercaillie, red deer and otters.
Posting a picture on Facebook of one such fire it said:”This is typical of the campfire damage that we see most days on Balmoral Estate.
“This fire was lit in a remnant of the old Caledonian Pine Forest, luckily it did not spread. The estate rangers spend a great deal of their time repairing this type of damage. #cnpactive, #treadlightly”
Followers were also concerned.
Neill Clark asked:”Is this the result of the freedom to ‘wild camp’ in Scotland?” while Jake Blair added:”Can I suggest dedicated fire spots to avoid wild fires?”
Firefighters from five Grampian stations battled a serious hill fire on the Balmoral Estate in 2011.
Officers from Balmoral, Ballater, Altens, Braemar and Aboyne, as well as estate staff, fought the blaze on a large patch of heather and gorse.
The Queen was at Balmoral at the weekend, attending church at Crathie Kirk on Sunday with with her son, the Earl of Wessex, and his daughter, Lady Louise Windsor, the Queen’s youngest granddaughter.
The service offered a tribute to those who died in Manchester last Monday at the Ariana Grande concert terror attack.
The Rev Kenneth MacKenzie, of the Braemar and Crathie Parish, said: “Her Majesty is usually up, but she waited this year because of the unspeakably awful event in Manchester.
“The situation was mentioned by me at the beginning of the service and then again during the prayers – it is clearly something that is on the minds of everyone in the land.”
The Queen stayed at Craigowan Lodge on the Balmoral Estate – as the castle is open to the public until the Monarch and the rest of the royal family spend their summer at the Deeside retreat.
On its website, Balmoral says:”The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and The Prince of Wales take a close personal interest in running and improving the Estates.
“We educate visitors through our ranger service on the importance of nature conservation, the management techniques employed by the estate and how the visitor can reduce their own impact on the environment.
“The estate through its membership of Wild Scotland has shown its commitment to ensuring that the activities it undertakes in the landscape do not destroy the very resource which people have come to enjoy.”
It also adds that the Caledonian Pine Forest is “one of the country’s most important habitats and home to the elusive capercaillie.”
