FOREST FIRE RISK MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN MONTENEGRO

Abstract

In times of increasingly pronounced climate change, wildfires are among the key threats to forest ecosystems and pose a global environmental and economic problem. Montenegro's forests are particularly endangered due to its geographical position and the increasingly adverse climate effects. Wildfires occur as a causal link between climatic and meteorological conditions, humidity of forest cover, and plant vegetation with social activities in the area concerned (revised Forestry Development Strategy, 2018). Increasing attention is being paid to improving risk assessment and early warning using modern information systems to mitigate the wildfire risk preventively. Research on the capability and capacity of responsible institutions in Montenegro for establishing an information system is particularly important for wildfire risk management. The research showed that Montenegro's capabilities and capacities for risk assessment and early warning of wildfires are limited. The research showed that the system could be improved by establishing a single national wildfire information system. Various forms of early warning and wildfire risk management systems applied, including the Macedonian Forest Fire Information System (MKFFIS), Croatian’s Integral Forest Fire Monitoring System (in Croatian IPNAS), and others, have already shown a high level of efficiency. Through a systemic approach, a large part of the tools used by these systems could be realistically developed and subsequently upgraded, taking into account their modularity in terms of software and hardware.