Strategic Management Areas influence the effects and intensity of large forest fires.
On Saturday, 27th November, a training day on “Strategic Management Areas” was held by researchers from the Faculty of Forestry Engineering of the Vigo University (one of the 21 entities participating in the FIREPOCTEP project).
The conference, aimed at representatives of forest communities in the area of Tomiño and showed the first results in simulations of large fires in the Baixo Miño, aimed at identifying the strategic areas of the region.
The research process carried out by researchers from the Escola de Enxeñaría Forestal of the University of Vigo focused on “fire behaviour prediction simulators” based on the use of cartographic techniques and the definition of fuel maps.
The director of this body, Juan Picos, reported that around 2000 simulations had been carried out in the area and that this had enabled the areas that were candidates for being defined as “Strategic Management Areas” to be detected more effectively.
Pilot Areas
The Strategic Management Areas are, in the words of Juan Picos: “defined and prioritised areas of the territory taking into account the risk and danger of fire, fuels, fire behavior in the study area, existing defense infrastructures, the management of historical emergencies and the vulnerability of natural, rural or urban values to be protected“.
This conference was also attended by a researcher from the University of Extremadura, Javier Corbacho, who works in another one of the pilot areas of the FIREPOCTEP project. Before the event, Alfredo Fernández Ríos, Deputy Director of Rural Planning of the Regional Ministry of Rural Affairs of the Regional government of Galicia, presented a report on agroforestry farms in the Law on the Recovery of Agricultural Land.
About Interreg FIREPOCTEP (www.firepoctep.eu)
The FIREPOCTEP project is part of the fourth call of the Interreg V-A Spain-Portugal Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2014-2020 (POCTEP), 75% co-financed by the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) with a total budget of 5.6 million euros. With a duration of 3 years, its main objective is to analyse the impact of climate change on the risk of fires and their effects on the environment of the Raya (Spain and Portugal). FIREPOCTEP will not only improve cooperation and coordination of fire-fighting forces but will also serve as an example of good practices focused on the protection and promotion of the environment which, in turn, allows the creation of employment and innovation in rural areas through training actions, supporting the local economy, and the conservation of the landscape.