FIRE-RES - Innovative technologies and socio-ecological-economic solutions for fire resilient territories in Europe

Climate teleconnections (CT) remotely influence weather conditions in many regions on Earth, entailing changes in primary drivers of fire activity such as vegetation biomass accumulation and moisture. We reveal significant relationships between the main global CTs and burned area that vary across and within continents and biomes according to both synchronous and lagged signals, and marked regional patterns. Overall, CTs modulate 52.9% of global burned area, the Tropical North Atlantic mode being the most relevant CT. Here, we summarized the CT-fire relationships into a set of six global CT domains that are discussed by continent, considering the underlying mechanisms relating weather patterns and vegetation types with burned area across the different world’s biomes. Our findings highlight the regional CT-fire relationships worldwide, aiming to further support fire management and policy-making.

Thinning young forest stands is a common practice to improve the future development of the remaining trees and enhance their resistance to abiotic and biotic disturbances. The objective of this study was to consider the effectiveness of precommercial thinning, over time, implemented on Pinus halepensis (Aleppo pine) thickets, regarding fuel evolution and potential fire behavior. For this purpose, we established 44 plots on untreated and thinned Aleppo pine stands, measured all of the relevant fuel characteristics and simulated fire behavior under average and extreme fire weather scenarios. The plots were at different stages of fuel evolution (0.5 to 10 years since treatment, plus untreated stands), so that the evolution of the variables defining forest structure and the amount and distribution of surface fuels could be captured. The results show that precommercial thinning, when accompanied with pruning and surface fuel management, had a clear impact on fire behavior and on the potential of fire crowning during the first two to four years after the treatment. After that initial period, the buildup of understory vegetation minimized treatment effectiveness in mitigating potential fire behavior. In general, it can be stated that precommercial thinning has a positive impact on fire mitigation, but the impact that opening the tree canopy has on ground vegetation development must be considered in order to plan more efficient management strategies.

Wildfires threaten and kill people, destroy urban and rural property, degrade air quality, ravage forest ecosystems, and contribute to global warming. Wildfire management decision support models are thus important for avoiding or mitigating the effects of these events. In this context, this paper aims at providing a review of recent applications of machine learning methods for wildfire management decision support. The emphasis is on providing a summary of these applications with a classification according to the case study type, machine learning method, case study location, and performance metrics. The review considers documents published in the last four years, using a sample of 135 documents (review articles and research articles). It is concluded that the adoption of machine learning methods may contribute to enhancing support in different fire management phases.

El Pacto Verde Europeo aspira a convertir la Unión Europea en un territorio neutro de emisiones para 2050, así como proteger el capital natural de Europa para las personas y la salud. En este contexto, surge la necesidad de prevenir y prepararse para afrontar eventos de incendios extremos que están por venir en el territorio europeo. El proyecto FIRE-RES, financiado bajo la convocatoria del Green Deal LC-GD-1-1-2020 durante el periodo 2021-2025, tiene como objetivo general proveer a la Unión Europea de las herramientas necesarias para no colapsar frente a los incendios forestales extremos previstos ante un clima más adverso. El proyecto desplegará un conjunto de acciones innovadoras en los ámbitos de la gestión del paisaje, la bioeconomía, la tecnología y la gobernanza proactiva, que facilitarán la implantación de un cambio de paradigma en la gestión integrada del fuego. En España, se dinamizarán tres living labs con particularidades propias en la gestión del fuego: Cataluña (gradiente mediterráneo-pirenaico con alta densidad de población), Galicia (compleja matriz forestal-rural-urbana en clima atlántico) e Islas Canarias (territorio remotos y con gran activo turístico). En este trabajo presentamos los principales retos que afrontamos en el proyecto, así como las acciones previstas para las regiones españolas.

The EU H2020 FIRE-RES project aims to provide Europe with the necessary capacity to avoid collapsing in front of Extreme Wildfire Events (EWE), projected to increase as the result of a harsher climate. An integrated management approach to the Fire Management Cycle phases (Prevention and Preparedness; Detection & Response; Restoration and Adaptation) is followed by developing Innovation Actions deployed and demonstrated in Living Labs across Europe and beyond. The Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia coordinates the FIRE-RES project. FIRE-RES brings together a transdisciplinary, multi-actor consortium formed by researchers, wildfire agencies, technological companies, industry and civil society, linking to broader networks in science and disaster reduction management.

In Spain, 55% of land area is covered by forests and other woodlands. Broadleaves occupy a predominant position (56%), followed by conifers (37%) and mixed stands (7%). Forest are distributed among the Atlantic (northwestern Iberian rim), Mediterranean (rest of the peninsula including the Balearic Islands) and Macaronesian (Canary Islands) climate zones. Spanish woodlands provide a multiplicity of ecosystem service products, such as, wood, cork, pine nuts, mushrooms and truffles. In terms of habitat services, biodiversity is highly relevant. Cultural services are mainly recreational and tourism, the latter being a crucial economic sector in Spain (including rural and ecotourism). Regulatory services, such as erosion control, water availability, flood and wildfire risk reduction, are of such great importance that related forest zoning and consequent legislation were established already in the 18th century. Climate change in Southern Europe is forecast to involve an increase in temperature, reduction in precipitation and increase in aridity. As a result, the risks for natural disturbances are expected to increase. Of these, forest fires usually have the greatest impact on ecosystems in Spain. In 2010–2019, the average annual forest surface area affected by fire was 95 065 ha. The combination of extreme climatic conditions (drought, wind) and the large proportion of unmanaged forests presents a big challenge for the future. Erosion is another relevant risk. In the case of fire, mitigation strategies should combine modification of the land use at the landscape level, in order to generate mosaics that will create barriers to the spread of large fires, along with stand-level prevention measures to either slow the spread of surface fires or, more importantly, impede the possibility of fire crowning or disrupt its spread. Similarly, forest management can play a major role in mitigating the impact of drought on a forest. According to the land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) accounting, Spanish forests absorbed 11% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. Investments in climate-smart forestry provide opportunities for using all the different parts of the Spanish forest-based sector for climate mitigation–forest sinks, the substitution of wood raw materials and products for fossil materials, and the storage of carbon in wood products. Moreover, this approach simultaneously helps to advance the adaptation of the forest to changing climate and to build forest resilience.