Line of action:

Drivers of biodiversity loss

Status:

En ejecución

Execution date:

2023

Total budget:

200.000 €

Amount of aid from the Biodiversity Foundation:

140.000 €

Forest fires are one of the most important natural risk factors in Mediterranean ecosystems. The forest area burned in 2022 (260,482 hectares) is more than three times the average of the last decade.

The conditions that fuel the cause of these fires are mainly the frequency with which we experience prolonged heat and drought events caused by the effect of climate change, especially in Mediterranean environments such as the Iberian Peninsula, and the general lack of forest management.

According to Cesefor, preparing forest stands for the effects of climate change is essential for their adaptation to its effects. These measures must be based on sustainable and sustained forest management that reduces the impact of forest fires while contributing to the fight against depopulation through local forest resources.

The main objective of the project is to improve the adaptation of forests to climate change by reducing the impact of forest fires through the promotion of forest management in unpopulated areas (Soria, Palencia, Cuenca and Teruel).

It has the following specific goals:

• Diagnose the situation in terms of forest management, fire and demographic challenges in the context of climate change adaptation.
• Identify forest management adaptation mechanisms through the search for forest bioeconomy opportunities to combat depopulation and fires.
• Generate opportunities to improve adaptive capacity through the development of forest management and favor climate resilience.

• Evaluate the initial situation of forest management, socioeconomic and demographic, through an in-depth analysis of the current situation of forest management applied so far, focusing on the impact of forest fires on the ground, the demographic situation and territorial cohesion. A transversal working group will be created with all the agents involved in the value chain of forest management (public administrations, companies, environmental agents, engineers, local people) in order to establish the basis of the current demographic problems and work together to promote forest management as a local resource.
• Define adaptation strategies. A strategic plan will be defined for the fight against climate change and fires based on the promotion of sustainable and sustained forest management over time as a basis for reducing the vulnerability of the territory to these extreme events.
• Implementation plan, for which a digital tool will be generated to allow the inclusion of local adaptive forest management plans, including local management measures and measures to reduce vulnerability to fire. This tool will be able to make a self-diagnosis of the municipality and generate the action plan designed for the municipality, based on all available geographic information.
• Development of the position of forestry agent (or local forestry management support agent) as an engineer specialized in forestry management, in order to support municipal administrations in the process of implementing adaptive forestry management. For this purpose, a 10-day training course will be held (5 days of theoretical material in online mode and 5 days of theoretical-practical training in the pilot municipal forests).
• Project management and monitoring. A management plan will be created in addition to a replicability and continuity plan for the project in order to design a strategy for the products obtained as a result of the project.
• Communication and awareness actions.