Stakeholder perceptions of wildfire management strategies as nature-based solutions in two Iberian biosphere reserves

Ecology and Society: a journal of integrative science for resilience and sustainability

article

Judit Lecina-Diaz¹  João C. Campos¹  Silvana Pais¹  Claudia Carvalho-Santos⁶  João C. Azevedo⁷  Paulo Fernandes⁹  João F. Gonçalves¹  Núria Aquilué^1,11  José V. Roces-Díaz^1,12  María Agrelo de la Torre^1,13  Lluis Brotons^1,11  María-Luisa Chas-Amil^1,16  Angela Lomba¹  Andrea Duane^1,17  Francisco Moreira^1,18  Julia M. Touza^2,21  Virgilio Hermoso^2,22  Ângelo Sil¹  Joana R. Vicente¹  Joao Honrado¹  Adrián Regos¹ 

[1]CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto

[2]BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão

[3]Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Life Sciences, Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management Group

[4]CICGE, Centro de Investigação em Ciências Geo-Espaciais, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto

[5]Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto

[6]Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology ,(CBMA) & Institute for Bio-Sustainability ,(IB-S), University of Minho

[7]Centro de Investigação de Montanha ,(CIMO), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia

[8]Laboratório Associado para a Sustentabilidade e Tecnologia em Regiões de Montanha ,(SusTEC), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia

[9]CITAB, Centro de Investigação e de Tecnologias Agro-Ambientais e Biológicas, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro

[10]proMetheus—Research Unit in Materials, Energy and Environment for Sustainability, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo

[11]Centre de Ciència i Tecnologia Forestal de Catalunya

[12]SMartForest Research Group, Department of Biology of Organisms and Systems, Oviedo University

[13]TRAGSATEC

[14]CREAF

[15]CSIC

[16]Department of Quantitative Economics. Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

[17]Department of Agricultural and Forest Engineering, University of Lleida

[18]CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratrio Associado, Universidade do Porto

[19]CIBIO-InBIO Laboratório Associado, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa

[20]BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics

[21]Department of Environment and Geography and York Environmental Sustainability Institute, University of York

[22]Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Sevilla

[23]Departamento de Zooloxía, Xenética e Antropoloxía Física, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

关键词: biosphere reserves;    ecosystem services;    fuel management;    landscape conservation;    perceptions;    Portugal-Spain;    questionnaire;    social-ecological systems;    stakeholders;   

DOI  :  10.5751/ES-13907-280139

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Resilience Alliance Publications

【 摘 要 】

Increased large and high-intensity wildfires cause large socioeconomic and ecological impacts, which demand improved landscape management approaches in which both ecological and societal dimensions are integrated. Engaging society in fire management requires a better understanding of stakeholder perceptions of wildfires and landscape management. We analyze stakeholder perceptions about wildfire-landscape interactions in abandoned rural landscapes of southern Europe, and how fire and the land should be managed to reduce wildfire hazard and ensure the long-term supply of ecosystem services in these fire-prone regions. To do so, a structured online questionnaire was sent to the stakeholders of two transboundary biosphere reserves in Spain-Portugal. Our analysis also questioned to what extent fuel management strategies can be considered nature-based solutions (NbS) using the IUCN standard. Overall, stakeholders state that fire should be managed and support fire prevention in lieu of fire suppression policies. Rural abandonment is perceived as the main cause of large wildfires, with high-intensity fires impacting the study regions more than in the recent past, a trend which they expect to continue in the future in the absence of management. All the suggested fuel management strategies, except chemical treatments, were accepted by the stakeholders who perceive more positive than negative effects of fuel management on forest ecosystem services. Transboundary coordination was rated as inadequate or even nonexistent. We did not find differences among stakeholder sectors and biosphere reserves, indicating that in the study area, there is a general agreement on perceptions about wildfire and associated impacts at the landscape level. Finally, we showed that promoting agricultural and livestock uses, modifying forest species composition to increase fire resistance, and introducing large herbivores have the potential to become effective NbS in the regions. This study represents a first-step analysis representing a base for future co-design and implementation of NbS to improve fuel management, contributing to the understanding of the stakeholder support for their application in addressing the socioeconomic challenges in high fire-risk areas.

【 授权许可】

Others