Forest fire risk assessment in the Santuario de Fauna y Flora Iguaque (Boyacá, Colombia)

Abstract

The alteration of natural fire regimes in many ecosystems of the world has several causes, the most important are: land uses with agricultural burning under drought conditions, changes in land cover due to deforestation, the spread of invasive plants, and climate change. This paper evaluated the wildfire risk of the Santuario de Fauna y Flora Iguaque (SFFI) from the definition of its hazard and vulnerability. The multi-criteria methodology defined by the Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambi-entales (IDEAM) was used with some modifications according to later conceptions of risk theory and disaster management. The total high and very high hazard of wildfire was found in 34.9 % of the SFFI and the total vulnerability for the same categories was 98.5 % for the area. Therefore, the high and very high risk of fires covered 27.3 % of the protected area, located mainly in its central and southwestern regions. Likewise, the moderate risk covered 39.4 % of the Sanctuary. These results propose fires as one of the main disturbances of the SFFI ecosystems and show the high possibility that this phenomenon produces adverse effects on socio-ecological systems. This zoning may contribute to the management of the Sanctuary around the reduction of the negative impacts of fires, their severity, and intensity.