Reacción a "Reactions to the wave of wildfires in the Iberian Peninsula"

For yet another year, and in the middle of the heat wave, we feel the impotence of seeing our most emblematic forests and natural spaces burning with few realistic options for dealing with them. And what is the reason for this recurring situation? The problem is not a recent one, it has been going on for a long time. In Spain, as in many southern European countries, rural abandonment and the consequent loss of traditional agro-pastoral activity has favoured the transition towards more flammable landscapes. The amount of 'fuel', i.e. vegetation available to burn, has increased in recent decades. The abandonment that our rural world has been suffering since the middle of the last century not only entails a greater risk of fire but also the progressive loss of the great cultural value associated with these traditional activities, as well as an irreparable loss of biodiversity -many species are adapted to the habitats created by extensive agriculture and livestock farming in our country-. A large part of our grasslands, heathlands and wetlands have been progressively replaced by forestry plantations, whose planning responds exclusively to economic interests and whose management is conspicuous by its absence.  

But the increase in the intensity and severity of the fires we have been suffering over the last decade is not only due to this variable. It is its interaction with other factors that makes this complex equation a difficult problem to solve. Current firefighting policies are focused on the immediate suppression of any type of fire, regardless of the conditions and intensity with which it occurs. This policy is paradoxically favouring the accumulation of 'fuel' by depriving our ecosystems of a fundamental ecological process, fire. How to manage our forest landscapes without fire, where are the resources for landscape-scale management to cope with this new generation of fires? They are here to stay and we need to be aware that global warming will only favour the conditions for these waves of fires to recur with greater frequency and virulence. The progressive accumulation of unmanaged vegetation, under the conditions of drought and water stress to which they are exposed, creates the ideal conditions for the generation of extreme events against which fire brigades have little to do beyond risking their lives.   

We need to be aware of the problem. We need to create landscapes that are more resistant and resilient to large wildfires, to move towards 'fire-smart' territories. Our landscapes need proactive, adaptive and holistic management to enable rural development that is compatible - in the medium and long term - with biodiversity and ecosystem services. This requires a conciliatory, integrative and holistic approach that favours synergies between different sectoral policies and reduces the risks associated with climate change and rural abandonment in our country. The European Green Pact offers the regulatory framework to address these challenges, and undoubtedly a unique opportunity to integrate a 'fire-smart' vision in the new energy, environmental and agroforestry policies.