Resource type:
Research
EU project stamp:
No
Link to knowledge resource
Main entity:
Universidade do Porto
Type of entity:
Research centre/University
Key themes:
Agriculture
Climate change
Disaster risk reduction
Fire
Forest fires
Forests
Grasslands
Mountains
Restoration
Societal challenges:
Biodiversity Enhancement
Health, Wellbeing & Air Quality
Natural and Climate Hazards
Scope:
Europe
Focus:
Portugal
Description:
Extreme wildfires are expected to increase in Southern Europe, due to climate change and rural abandonment. Fire management is focused on suppression, which accelerates the transition to more flammable landscapes. Synthesising the knowledge acquired over the ‘FirESmart’ project, the paper findings show how agroforestry policies could benefit biodiversity while providing further fire suppression opportunities. The EU Green Deal offers an opportunity to incorporate ‘fire-smartness’ into upcoming agroforestry policies. Still, if these policies fail at reversing rural abandonment, the use of fire could enhance rewilding and tree-planting as ‘climate-smart’ strategies in the fire-prone mountains of Southern Europe.
Date:
2023