Forest Fires: Prevention is Better than Cure

GMV, technology business group, is leading a European consortium that is working towards the prevention of unwanted forest fires. It is doing so by analyzing the most important fire prevention theories and practices to pinpoint the factors and obstacles that might undermine the effectiveness of current measures. This project, FIRESMART (Forest and Land Management Options to prevent unwanted forest fires), is a European Commission FP7 project.

GMV organized the conference “Intelligent Forest Fire Prevention in Europe”, with the aid of the company Entrenamiento e Información Forestal S.L. (EIMFOR) and the National Institute for Food and Agrarian Technology Research (INIA in Spanish initials), held in the Higher Forestry Engineering School (ETSI Montes) of the Polytechnic University of Madrid (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid). The conference was structured in three panel discussions, each one with a keynote theme to be debated by top sector specialists.

The first section dealt with prevention by managing forest fuels. It was chaired by José Antonio Vega, from the Forestal Lourizán Research Center of the Regional Council of Galicia, who analyzed the fuel management methods for prevention purposes, the need for tried-and-tested scientific experiments and the costs and benefits of treatments. Pablo Almarcha, representative of the Confederation of Silviculture Organizations of Spain (COSE in Spanish initials), argued that the management of forest fuels for fire-prevention purposes needed to be understood in a holistic way as part of farming policies and country planning practices. This was one of the most unanimous conclusions to come out of the debate.

The second panel discussion examined socio-economic, legislative and administrative aspects of prevention. Álvaro Picardo, advisor of the Environment Directorate General of the Regional Council of Castilla y León, explained the regional needs, making it clear that the best fire prevention measures are those that contribute towards sustainable forest management, integrating silviculture products into the market and promoting forestry employment and social action in the rural environment.

José Ramón González Pan, head of the fire prevention program of the Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs, chaired the third session, dealing the communication aspects of prevention. The main conclusion drawn from this session was the need to set up specific long term communication plans for the stakeholders of each particular sector and also the need to phase in fire-prevention information processes right from the start of forestry management plans.

The sessions all produced lively and enlightening debates, the conclusions of which will be published in the coming weeks.

The 100+ conference participants included the Confederation of European Forest Owners (CEPF) and the Southern Europe Forest Owners Union (USSE); the conference focus on the Mediterranean area also attracted participants from Greece, Croatia, Italy, France, Portugal and Tunisia. All government levels in Spain with powers and responsibilities for forestry management were also present: the Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs, prevention officials from the regional authorities of Castilla y León, Castilla La Mancha, Madrid, Andalusia, Valencia, Catalunya and Extremadura, provincial councils and local councils; also present were research centers like the Higher Council for Scientific Research and the Center for Environmental Research of the Mediterranean (CSIC and CEAM, respectively, in Spanish initials), universities, companies, environmental NGOs, civil protection and emergency services, social communicators and journalists. Spanish silviculturists were represented by COSE.

The aim of FireSmart, working with a budget of about €1 million, is to contribute towards the prevention of unwanted forest fires by identifying possible obstacles that reduce the effectiveness of existing prevention measures; the project hopes to provide fundamental recommendations for systematic integration of prevention practices into forestry management plans, and it will also provide an interactive tool for swapping information between the various organizations.

The FIRESMART Consortium is made up by 8 members representing various countries of Mediterranean Europe, some directly (Portugal, Spain, France and Italy), and others indirectly through international organizations taking part in the Consortium, such as the JRC (Joint Research Centre of the European Commission) and CEPF (Confederation Europeénne des Proprietaires Forestiers).

More information on Firesmart