Drought talks 'unite people to protect nature'
Devon Biodiversity Records CentreDrought and extreme weather "brought communities together", a wildlife manager has said.
Randy Mayers, an area reserve manager for urban parks in Exeter for Devon Wildlife Trust, attended a meeting at Downing Street on 21 September with people from homeless agencies, RNLI , ambulance and fire services to discuss the impacts of drought and extreme weather.
Summer 2026 was the UK's hottest on record, according to provisional data from the Met Office, which Mayers said "impacted quite significantly on the landscape".
He said: "The fires and these extremities has really brought communities together and... this idea that we really need to look after our landscape and our natural resources."
'Inspiring and reassuring'
Mayers described the networking event as "surreal" and he was "humbled to be a part of it".
He said: "Something I didn't really realise, there's the social impact of the droughts and the extreme weather we had this year.
"It was quite inspiring and reassuring to hear the prime minister first-hand saying that he's committed to making sure that emergency services, volunteers and other charitable organisations are well resourced to be ready for these extreme conditions that we'll be seeing more and more of going forward."
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it had regular National Drought Group meetings and in August and the government said it would fund £65m to farmers across England in response to the drought.
Mayers said he was nominated to attend the meeting because of work after a widlfire at Mincinglake Valley Park which ripped through more than 50 acres of the park in Exeter on 11 August, prompting the call-out of 20 fire crews.
Firefighters had worked in increasingly challenging conditions across Devon and Cornwall to tackle wildfires during the drought, with Cornwall Fire Service recording 176 wildfires before August 2026.
Mayers said: "I have so much admiration so much respect for the fire services because, without them, it doesn't even bear thinking about how much more significant the problems with the wildfires could have been."
'Reduced species'
Mayers said it was challenging to work during the high temperatures and drought in the summer.
"It reduces water resources, which then means there's limited food supply for wildlife on site, and so they tend to have to go a lot further and risk having conflict with other creatures on site," he said.
He said they lost "lots of invertebrates and lots of birds".
"We did notice quite a lot of reduced species on site due to the lack of rain, lack of water, lack of food and resources on site."
He added, however, he found the "overwhelming support" from the local community who "wanted to come out and help and give their time" to be "really inspiring".
He asked people to get involved in their local charities, to take their litter home and to not light fires in open spaces.
