Fire in Protected Areas - the Effect of Protection and Importance of Fire Management

Abstract

Fires are important but socially and economically unwanted disturbances of the ecosystems. They cannot be considered as a problem, they are global phenomena. Protected areas are created to protect biodiversity, and strict protection is often applied, forgetting that fire had shaped that that we aim to protect. This harsh protection is producing important changes in the protected habitats and is increasing their vulnerability to destructive wildfires. Thus, it is of major interest to incorporate fire management in the protected areas plan, including the (re)use of prescribed fire and traditional burning in order to reintroduce fire regimens, fundamental to the landscape sustainability. This incorporation represents an enormous step in the habitats sustainability. Policies should be more focused on fire prevention than on its suppression.