Wildfire risk assessment and mapping – an approach for Natura 2000 forest sites
Over the last ten years, Bulgaria's forest areas have been under almost year-round fire activity, severely impacting the Natura 2000 sites: Managing forests and maintaining traditional links between people and nature in mountain sites is becoming increasingly challenging. However, the National...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2024-06-01
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| Series: | Trees, Forests and People |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666719324000396 |
| _version_ | 1797267598205779968 |
|---|---|
| author | Bilyana Borisova Elena Todorova Ivo Ihtimanski Maria Glushkova Miglena Zhiyanski Margarita Georgieva Todor Stoyanov Mariam Bozhilova Margarita Atanasova Stelian Dimitrov |
| author_facet | Bilyana Borisova Elena Todorova Ivo Ihtimanski Maria Glushkova Miglena Zhiyanski Margarita Georgieva Todor Stoyanov Mariam Bozhilova Margarita Atanasova Stelian Dimitrov |
| author_sort | Bilyana Borisova |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Over the last ten years, Bulgaria's forest areas have been under almost year-round fire activity, severely impacting the Natura 2000 sites: Managing forests and maintaining traditional links between people and nature in mountain sites is becoming increasingly challenging. However, the National Methodology for determining the risk of forest fires (proposed in 2016) is applicable only at the regional administrative level (NUTS 3). This study is motivated by the actual need for an approach and a toolbox that can accurately assess the risk of wildfires, considering the unique characteristics of each location. An object-oriented vulnerability analysis is necessary to ensure that all parties involved in wildfire risk management can respond effectively. The main objective of this study is to suggest a flexible and scalable approach for spatial assessment and mapping of wildfire risk in geographic units relevant to natural heritage maintenance and resource management. A single register of potential fire risk factors is proposed, integrating 29 indicators into five thematic groups reflecting up-to-date data on hazards, vulnerability, and emergency response capacity. The factors are assessed and overlayed to come out with an integrated evaluation of the fire risk within a forestry subdivision - the smallest unit of forest management and inventory. The evaluation process involved geospatial technologies for analyzing the data and mapping the results. The methodology is tested on two Natura 2000 sites - BG0000496 “Rilski Manastir” (includes UNESCO’ World Heritage Site and symbol of Bulgarian identity – Rila Monastery) and BG0001011 “Osogovska Planina”, for which a conservation concern has been identified under the influence of wildfire risk. It has been confirmed that risk maps have the potential to support response teams, as demonstrated during a fire event that occurred on October 30th, 2022. The results from the study were used to identify suitable locations for the construction of fire towers and a visitor information system at BG0000496 “Rilski Manastir”. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-25T01:19:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-52827d8e38414178bc037e65bc685536 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2666-7193 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-25T01:19:08Z |
| publishDate | 2024-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Trees, Forests and People |
| spelling | doaj.art-52827d8e38414178bc037e65bc6855362024-03-09T09:29:37ZengElsevierTrees, Forests and People2666-71932024-06-0116100532Wildfire risk assessment and mapping – an approach for Natura 2000 forest sitesBilyana Borisova0Elena Todorova1Ivo Ihtimanski2Maria Glushkova3Miglena Zhiyanski4Margarita Georgieva5Todor Stoyanov6Mariam Bozhilova7Margarita Atanasova8Stelian Dimitrov9Sofia University ''St. Kliment Ohridski'', Sofia, BulgariaForest Institute - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, BulgariaSofia University ''St. Kliment Ohridski'', Sofia, BulgariaForest Institute - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria; Corresponding author.Forest Institute - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, BulgariaForest Institute - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, BulgariaForest Institute - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, BulgariaForest Institute - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, BulgariaSofia University ''St. Kliment Ohridski'', Sofia, BulgariaSofia University ''St. Kliment Ohridski'', Sofia, BulgariaOver the last ten years, Bulgaria's forest areas have been under almost year-round fire activity, severely impacting the Natura 2000 sites: Managing forests and maintaining traditional links between people and nature in mountain sites is becoming increasingly challenging. However, the National Methodology for determining the risk of forest fires (proposed in 2016) is applicable only at the regional administrative level (NUTS 3). This study is motivated by the actual need for an approach and a toolbox that can accurately assess the risk of wildfires, considering the unique characteristics of each location. An object-oriented vulnerability analysis is necessary to ensure that all parties involved in wildfire risk management can respond effectively. The main objective of this study is to suggest a flexible and scalable approach for spatial assessment and mapping of wildfire risk in geographic units relevant to natural heritage maintenance and resource management. A single register of potential fire risk factors is proposed, integrating 29 indicators into five thematic groups reflecting up-to-date data on hazards, vulnerability, and emergency response capacity. The factors are assessed and overlayed to come out with an integrated evaluation of the fire risk within a forestry subdivision - the smallest unit of forest management and inventory. The evaluation process involved geospatial technologies for analyzing the data and mapping the results. The methodology is tested on two Natura 2000 sites - BG0000496 “Rilski Manastir” (includes UNESCO’ World Heritage Site and symbol of Bulgarian identity – Rila Monastery) and BG0001011 “Osogovska Planina”, for which a conservation concern has been identified under the influence of wildfire risk. It has been confirmed that risk maps have the potential to support response teams, as demonstrated during a fire event that occurred on October 30th, 2022. The results from the study were used to identify suitable locations for the construction of fire towers and a visitor information system at BG0000496 “Rilski Manastir”.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666719324000396WildfireRisk assessmentNatura 2000Forest subdivisionRisk registerRisk map |
| spellingShingle | Bilyana Borisova Elena Todorova Ivo Ihtimanski Maria Glushkova Miglena Zhiyanski Margarita Georgieva Todor Stoyanov Mariam Bozhilova Margarita Atanasova Stelian Dimitrov Wildfire risk assessment and mapping – an approach for Natura 2000 forest sites Trees, Forests and People Wildfire Risk assessment Natura 2000 Forest subdivision Risk register Risk map |
| title | Wildfire risk assessment and mapping – an approach for Natura 2000 forest sites |
| title_full | Wildfire risk assessment and mapping – an approach for Natura 2000 forest sites |
| title_fullStr | Wildfire risk assessment and mapping – an approach for Natura 2000 forest sites |
| title_full_unstemmed | Wildfire risk assessment and mapping – an approach for Natura 2000 forest sites |
| title_short | Wildfire risk assessment and mapping – an approach for Natura 2000 forest sites |
| title_sort | wildfire risk assessment and mapping an approach for natura 2000 forest sites |
| topic | Wildfire Risk assessment Natura 2000 Forest subdivision Risk register Risk map |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666719324000396 |
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