Prescribed burning in Catalonia: Fire management and research

Abstract

Wildfires have been seriously affecting Catalonia (NE Spain) during the last decades. Before the large fires of 1994 and 1998, the Catalonian policy was mainly focused on fire extinction activities, underestimating prevention and forest management. Nevertheless, since the occurrence of those events, a new debate arose between politicians, the scientific community and land managers in order to find solutions to the new large wildfire reality. Its first result was the implementation of a new policy based on fire management, basically focused on prescribed burning, as well as the increase of Catalan universities involvement in forest fire research topics. The most relevant achievements in prescribed burning during its six years of application will be presented in this paper, deserving special attention to the synergies found between forestry management and research in wildfires.