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- Fernandez-Anez, Nieves, et al.
(författare)
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Current Wildland Fire Patterns and Challenges in Europe : A Synthesis of National Perspectives
- 2021
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Ingår i: Air, Soil and Water Research. - : SAGE Publications. - 1178-6221. ; 14, s. 1-19
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Changes in climate, land use, and land management impact the occurrence and severity of wildland fires in many parts of the world. This is particularly evident in Europe, where ongoing changes in land use have strongly modified fire patterns over the last decades. Although satellite data by the European Forest Fire Information System provide large-scale wildland fire statistics across European countries, there is still a crucial need to collect and summarize in-depth local analysis and understanding of the wildland fire condition and associated challenges across Europe. This article aims to provide a general overview of the current wildland fire patterns and challenges as perceived by national representatives, supplemented by national fire statistics (2009–2018) across Europe. For each of the 31 countries included, we present a perspective authored by scientists or practitioners from each respective country, representing a wide range of disciplines and cultural backgrounds. The authors were selected from members of the COST Action “Fire and the Earth System: Science & Society” funded by the European Commission with the aim to share knowledge and improve communication about wildland fire. Where relevant, a brief overview of key studies, particular wildland fire challenges a country is facing, and an overview of notable recent fire events are also presented. Key perceived challenges included (1) the lack of consistent and detailed records for wildland fire events, within and across countries, (2) an increase in wildland fires that pose a risk to properties and human life due to high population densities and sprawl into forested regions, and (3) the view that, irrespective of changes in management, climate change is likely to increase the frequency and impact of wildland fires in the coming decades. Addressing challenge (1) will not only be valuable in advancing national and pan-European wildland fire management strategies, but also in evaluating perceptions (2) and (3) against more robust quantitative evidence.
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| 2. |
- Ryfisch, Simon, et al.
(författare)
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Opportunities and limitations for Nature-Based Solutions in EU policies - Assessed with a focus on ponds and pondscapes
- 2023
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Ingår i: Land use policy. - : Elsevier. - 0264-8377 .- 1873-5754. ; 135
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) are growing in popularity to mitigate and adapt to climate change, enhance biodiversity, and secure human well-being. However, the emergence of NBS has not generated equal attention for all ecosystems. One such neglected ecosystem are ponds and pondscapes (i.e. groups of ponds in a landscape), which are deteriorating in quality and diminishing in quantity. As the European Union (EU) is regarded as influential in the conceptualisation and operationalisation of NBS, we conducted a qualitative content analysis of 38 EU policies to identify opportunities and limitations for the implementation of ponds and pondscapes as NBS. We focus our analysis on ponds and pondscapes, but their prevalence in different landscapes and their multitude of benefits allows us to also make some inferences about the implications of the EU policy context for NBS at large. We find that EU policies strengthen NBS linked to existing and potential Natura 2000 sites, as well as to ecosystems protected through the EU's Birds and Habitats Directives and Water Framework Directive. However, if ecosystems fall outside of these already established policies - as is the case with the vast majority of ponds and pondscapes - their implementation as NBS may be hampered. We also find that the EU emphasises natural water retention measures and carbon-rich ecosystems for climate change adaptation and mitigation, but mostly does not explicitly include ponds and pondscapes despite their potential contributions. Other findings are that the EU's Horizon Europe research policy will likely influence which ecosystems will be used and financed as NBS, while the exact ambition and selection of NBS rests with lower-level authorities or individuals. Therefore, further studies tracing the impact of the supra-national EU policy framework at lower governance levels are vital.
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