With the aim of conserving the Montseny Biosphere Reserve, a plan of action and prevention measures against fires has been developed.

Climate change increases the occurrence and intensity of forest fires. Reducing their impacts is a fundamental mitigation and adaptation strategy. For this reason, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, with the support of the Biodiversity Foundation, It has addressed this challenge through the development of a participatory method of fire prevention that integrates a diversity of landscape values, from biodiversity conservation to socio-economic activities.

The project “Participatory prevention of forest fires as a strategy for mitigation and adaptation to climate change in the Mediterranean region. Application to the Montseny Biosphere Reserve”, which has been developed in the Montseny Biosphere Reserve, has included a diagnosis of fire patterns, an assessment of the landscape by the actors involved (public administrations and civil society) and citizen participation days.

The project has developed a method of co-valuing the landscape, which includes the participation of social actors, for the prevention of forest fires in the Montseny Biosphere Reserve (RBM). The result is a proposal for a prevention plan that minimises the loss of social values in the face of fires that can acquire increasing intensity. To this end, a study has been carried out on the forest fire regime, from which the worst possible scenario and the corresponding containment polygons (territorial unit used by Firefighters for fire management) have been defined.

Afterwards, an assessment of the landscape was carried out with the actors of the Montseny Biosphere Reserve (biodiversity and habitats, socio-economic activities, heritage, and leisure). In addition, areas have been identified that are particularly valued by the local population and whose protection against fire is considered a priority. All these values and areas have been represented cartographically and have been counted to know the most valued containment polygons. Based on the values identified and the expected effects of climate change on the forests of the Montseny Biosphere Reserve, a prioritisation of fire containment polygons has been carried out. With the prioritization of polygons and knowledge of the forest fire regime, a prevention plan was prepared based on a set of Strategic Management Points (PEG) that would limit the impact of the fire to priority polygons. These PEGs are proposals for action in the territory aimed at creating areas with a low level of fuel through silvicultural work, extensive livestock farming, agriculture or prescribed burning. The plan has been discussed and agreed upon by the actors who have participated in the project, and it is expected that the measures will be integrated into the forest fire prevention plan that the Montseny Biosphere Reserve plans to start soon.