Wildfire Management in Europe Final Report and Recommendation Paper Cmine Task Group Wildfire
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WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT IN EUROPE FINAL REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION PAPER CMINE TASK GROUP WILDFIRE The final output of the one-year mandate of the CMINE Wildfire Task Group work is a recommendation to align EU legislation and national, regional and local levels of governance regarding land management to facilitate the mitigation of the risks of wildfires.. Nina Dobrinkova, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IICT-BAS) February 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................................. 4 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 7 CONTEXT OF THE TASK GROUP ........................................................................................................................... 7 GOAL OF THE TASK GROUP .................................................................................................................................. 7 EUROPEAN FIRES 'STATE OF THE ART' .............................................................................................................. 8 GENERAL INFORMATION ON WILDFIRES ........................................................................................................ 9 WILDFIRE CHARACTERISATION ......................................................................................................................... 10 CONSIDERATIONS OF WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT .......................................................................................... 11 OUTPUT OF THE GROUP ...................................................................................................................................... 12 OVERVIEW OF THE WILDFIRES AND THEIR RECURRENCE PATTERN IN EUROPE ................................ 13 CASE STUDIES ............................................................................................................................................. 16 PEDRÓGÃO GRANDE (PORTUGAL, JUNE 2017) ............................................................................................ 16 BRECON BEACONS NATIONAL PARK (SOUTH WALES, APRIL 2017) ......................................................... 19 GREECE (ATTICA, GREECE JULY 2018) ............................................................................................................. 21 OUTCOMES AFTER THE GREEK CASE STUDY IN SUMMARY ........................................................................... 26 CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................................................... 27 WAY FORWARD ......................................................................................................................................... 30 WHAT CAN BE THE USE OF THE OUTPUTS OF THIS TASK GROUP? HOW CAN THEY BE PUT IN PRACTICE? .............................................................................................................................................................. 30 HOW CAN THE OUTPUTS BE FURTHER ADVANCED? WHAT WOULD BE A FURTHER STEP? ............. 30 RECOMMENDATION 1: STIMULATE CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION ........................................................ 30 RECOMMENDATION 2: ESTABLISH LEGAL EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK DEALING WITH WILDFIRES ........ 30 RECOMMENDATION 3: NOMINATION OF CLEARLY IDENTIFIABLE CONTACT POINTS ACROSS EU ..... 31 RECOMMENDATION 4: ESTABLISHMENT OF CROSS-BORDER CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION PLANS IN EU .......................................................................................................................................................................... 31 RECOMMENDATION 5: ESTABLISHMENT OF CROSS-BORDER ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND DISASTER RISK REDUCTION EU PLANS ............................................................................................................... 31 WHAT OTHER CHALLENGES NEED TO BE ADDRESSED? ............................................................................. 31 POTENTIAL SYNERGIES WITH OTHER INITIATIVES/OTHER TASK GROUPS ............................................ 32 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................... 33 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................................... 35 ANNEX 1: FROM US COHESIVE WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY TOWARDS EUROPEAN WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY .................................................................. 36 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Crisis Management Innovation Network Europe1 (CMINE), one of the outputs of Driving Innovation in Crisis Management for European Resilience2 (DRIVER+), is a Community of Practice that fosters innovation and enhances a shared understanding in the fields of Crisis Management and Disaster Risk Reduction in Europe. CMINE is creating an umbrella network of stakeholders active in Crisis Management by linking existing projects, networks and initiatives. Different task groups have been set up to develop approaches aimed at resolving current issues in different Crisis Management domains. Wildfires occur traditionally in countries situated in the southern parts of Europe. However, in the last few years, northern countries are experiencing wildland fires (e.g. vegetation fires). The reasons for this new situation have been discussed during a series of CMINE Wildfire Task Group meetings in 2019. In this final report, we summarise our main findings, which refer to two substantial topics: landscape management and climate change. There are more and more parcels of land which have become abandoned, and regardless of the many reasons for its occurrence, the outcome is always the same. Vegetation is not managed due to an absence of people and no animals are in place to graze on the grass and shrubs. This vegetation grows every spring and every autumn provides potential fire propagation fuel waiting to be ignited. Climate change is another global issue which is creating dangerous weather conditions with extremely high temperatures during the summer season and mild winters, which is leading to wildfire occurrences in some parts of Europe all year round. In our report, we will describe three case studies from Portugal, Greece and South Wales, all reaching the same conclusions: the absence of a land management strategy and extreme weather are the best conditions for life-threatening wildfires. The only way of dealing with this evolving problem is the adoption of common legislation applicable to the EU Member States and its associated countries with implementation on all levels: national, regional and local. Neighbouring countries have to be included in the initiative in one way or another for larger territory to be protected. The population must be proactive and do its best to maintain the land within their neighbours. State reactions in most cases of rapid wildfire spread demonstrate that coordination between all first responders in the field is lacking. Therefore, working together must cover national and all other levels up to the community representatives’ special regulations. Coordination and cooperation initiatives, which in cases of major disasters will be helpful, should also be in place. The scientific community can also help implementing new ICT and satellite tools for simulations that calculate potential scenarios for wildfire spread. This can support the civil protection decision-making process. The gaps between the research community and operational response can be overcome only if all stakeholders learn to work together and the responsibilities are clear. 1 https://www.cmine.eu/. 2 Launched in May 2014, DRIVER+ is a project funded under the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission, whose main aim is to cope with current and future challenges due to increasingly severe consequences of natural disasters and terrorist threats, by the development and uptake of innovative solutions that are addressing the operational needs of practitioners dealing with Crisis Management. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Final Report builds on the insights, experience and expertise of a large group of experts. Editors-in-chief • Nina Dobrinkova (Bulgaria): CMINE Theme Chair Wildfire, Associated Professor at the Institute of Information and Communication Technologies – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IICT-BAS) • Chuck Bushey (United States): CMINE Vice Theme Chair Wildfires (International Association of Wildland Fire, National Wildland Fire Management Cohesive Strategy, Fire Ecologist and Fire Behaviour Analyst with Montana Prescribed Fire Services, Inc.) Key authors • Alexander Held (Germany): Vice Theme Chair Wildfires Senior Expert (Forest Fire and Silviculture), European Forest Risk Facility (@ EFI) • Marc Castellnou (Spain): Pau Costa Foundation, Strategic fire analyst with the Regional Fire Services, Catalonia, Spain and the head of the GRAF units • Cathelijne Stoof (The Netherlands): Wageningen University, Tenured Assistant Professor (Soil, Water, Landscapes, Fires) • George Boustras (Cyprus): Director, Centre for Risk and Decision Science (CERIDES) and Dean, Ioannis Gregoriou School of Business Administration • Georgios Eftychidis (Greece): R&D Manager, Center