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Background This paper identifies the weaknesses of the Portuguese approach to promote wildfire risk reduction through spatial planning. Aims This paper contributes to bridging a critical gap in knowledge on the role of spatial planning in the reduction of wildfire hazard, given that the characteristics of fire hazard are distinctive from other natural hazards. Methods Firstly, we used an online questionnaire answered by 175 municipalities of Portugal in order to examine local technicians’ experience in applying spatial planning legislation and wildfire management policies. In a second step, we collected data from a Delphi survey with 27 experts with the aim of confirming or repudiating the importance of each need for integration between spatial planning and rural fire management indicated by the replies of the 175 municipalities. Key results, conclusions, and implications One of the main identified weaknesses relates to the integration of the National Hazard Map in the Constraints Map of the Master Plans, considering the high inter-annual variability of fire hazard and the long-term definition of the municipal spatial planning framework.

Wildfires are not natural phenomena of the Amazon rainforest; therefore, they occur due to human activities, and their occurrences have increased in recent years. This situation requires continuous monitoring of this vast region, especially in areas where agricultural, livestock, mining, and infrastructure activities are located near protected areas (indigenous lands and nature conservation units). One of the conservation units that has recorded the highest increases in deforestation and fire rates is the Triunfo do Xingu Environmental Protection Area (APA Triunfo do Xingu), which since 2018 has registered the highest rates among other conservation units in the Amazon. The present study aims to develop two databases of burned areas from optical and microwave images for the years 2018, 2019, and 2020 for the APA Triunfo do Xingu using Google Earth Engine; then the results are compared with the DETER, MAPBIOMAS and MCD64A1 burned area bases to estimate existing similarities and divergences. This research uses the images of the Sentinel-2/S-2 and Landsat-8/L-8 optical satellites for the month of August of the years 2018, 2019, and 2020, a period of increased occurrences of active fires in the APA Triunfo do Xingu, to generate the burned area database that will serve as a reference for comparison with other burned area databases. Thus, images with spatial resolution, S-2 with 10 meters and L-8 with 30 meters and spectral (red, near, and medium infrared bands), are suitable for generating information with geometric and thematic quality, as the GEE allows the production of pixel mosaics excluding pixels with cloud and cloud shadows. The Sentinel-1/S-1 images used correspond to the VH cross-polarization, which is the most suitable polarization to map burned area than the VV polarization (Prasasti et al., 2020), having 10 meters of spatial resolution, being with speckle noise filter and with backscatter (DB) values. It is noteworthy that the S-1 images correspond to Band C, the wavelength of 5 cm, which reduces the interference of clouds when imaging the surface. In general, the BA-S1, BA-DETER, BA-MAPBIOMAS, and BA-MCD64A1 datasets obtained discrepant values concerning the reference dataset, which reveals that a consolidated base with values consistent with the reality of the fire regime of the study area is still to be achieved, as the discrepancies found reveal that the data and methodologies followed are not generating consistent quantitative information. Regarding the overlaps between the datasets, the spatial similarity between the datasets have a higher rate with polygons above 20 hectares, which allowed an average overlap of 63%, 69%, and 78% for the BA-S1, BA-MAPBIOMAS, and BA-MCD64A1. The BA-DETER dataset was below 20%, as it presents the lowest values of the number of polygons for the three years.

The 2017 wildfires marked a dramatic milestone in Portuguese society, which corresponded to an extreme intensity and the inherent loss of life, property, and thousands of forest hectares. This high impact led to a paradigm shift regarding prevention and firefighting, highlighting the need for an integrated fire management approach and assuming as imperative the integration of wildfire risk reduction on spatial planning at municipal level. This turning point was expressed in the prolific legislative production, namely in the guidelines for preventing and fighting wildfires, given by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers (RCM) n.º 157-A/2017; on the principles set out in the Directive for Preventing and Fighting Wildfires, defined by the RCM n.º 20/2018; in the approval of the National Plan for the Integrated Management of Wildfires (PNGIFR), emanated from the RCM n.º 45-A/2020, which established the need to implement an Integrated Management System for Wildfires (SGIFR), whose vision and objectives were defined in the RCM n.º 12/2019, and its operating rules were enacted in the Decree-Law n.º 82/2021. As such, the SGIFR establishes, at a national level, strategic guidelines with a view of risk reduction, changing the behaviour of owners, users and other beneficiaries of the rural territory. In addition, SGIFR proposes integrating wildfire risk reduction in spatial planning through the insertion of fire hazard map, namely in the master plan’s constraints map (i.e., the map where are identified the administrative easements and public utility restrictions that may constitute limitations or impediments to any specific form of land use). The constraint map is one of the documents of the Municipal Master Plan, i.e., the fundamental legal instrument in the management of the municipal territory that defines the strategic framework for territorial development and the spatial organisation model of the municipal territory. This paper identifies the weaknesses of the approach proposed by the SGIFR to promote wildfire risk reduction through spatial planning, and its short and long-term impacts. Firstly, we used an online questionnaire answered by 18 municipalities from the Centre Region of Portugal, in order to examine the local experts’ experience in applying the legislation of spatial planning and wildfire management policies. In a second step, we collected data from a focus group with representatives of the technical forestry office from 8 municipalities where the difficulties, the challenges and needs to integrate spatial planning and wildfire risk reduction were discussed. One of the main weaknesses is related with the integration of the fire hazard map in the constraints map of the Municipal Master Plan, considering the high inter-annual variability of fire hazard and the long-term definition of the municipal development model. This procedure will create building permit constraints which can limit the development and continue to favour the depopulation of the rural areas. This paper contributes to bridging a critical gap in knowledge on the role of spatial planning in the reduction of wildfire hazard and exposure, given the characteristics of fire hazard that are distinctive from other natural hazards (e.g., floods, costal erosion, earthquakes).

A partir da análise dos incêndios extremos de 2017 em Portugal, e 2018 na Grécia, que se transformaram em catástrofes, é feita uma reflexão sobre a influência da comunicação e da preparação na redução do risco. No processo de preparação as pessoas devem antecipar o que pode ocorrer, o que precisam de fazer para reduzir o risco e aumentar as suas capacidades para responderem no de um incêndio, sendo a comunicação do risco e da crise fundamentais.

A new coronavirus emerged in December 2019 and quickly spread globally, causing unprecedented social, psychological, and economic damage. This study aimed to investigate people’s emotional reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic. The dataset for this study consisted of 2,013 adults (962 males and 1,053 females) in four countries (Italy, Lebanon, Portugal, and Serbia). A snowball sampling technique that focused on recruiting the general public living in countries during the COVID-19 epidemic was utilized. An online survey was disseminated at the same time, in March–April 2020, when many countries were exposed to COVID-19. Results indicated that, with regard to gender, females had more psychological reactions to COVID-19 than did males. People who had one child were more stressed than people with no children. Extensive knowledge of COVID-19 was found to trigger more anxiety. Results showed that stress and overall emotional reactions increased with age. The findings can be used to develop psychological interventions to improve mental health and psychological resilience during the COVID-19 epidemic.

This chapter examines recovery of residents and communities affected by a wildfire disaster by reviewing relevant academic literature. Existing literature shows that residents follow the honeymoon, disillusionment, and reconstruction recovery phases identified in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) phases of the disaster collective reactions model. At the community level, there is a strong emphasis on rebuilding quickly, consistent with the Early Restoration recovery approach identified by Thomalla and colleagues. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction includes a focus on building back better after a disaster. This review of the wildfire social science literature indicates that while there are some examples of building back better during the recovery process, pressures from residents, politicians, and others to rebuild quickly often lead to implementation of the Early Restoration approach, which can limit opportunities to reduce vulnerability in the event of a future wildfire. Further research on wildfire recovery is needed in several areas.

The causes of increased wildfire risk and human exposure around the world vary geographically and across socioeconomic gradients as both wildfire risk and potential adverse social outcomes are contingent on the specific local context. Ultimately, there is no consistent explanation for what has led to extreme fire danger in a given location. Therefore this chapter does not focus on regional specifics but provides a broad overview of a range of factors and dynamics to consider in understanding the human—wildfire relationship based on insights gained from three fields of social science research: (1) natural hazards, which provides a framework for how societies and individuals perceive and respond to the wildfire hazard, (2) diffusion of innovations, which provides further guidance on factors that may influence adoption of fire mitigation measures, and (3) risk and crisis communication which provides insight into key dynamics to consider in effective outreach efforts.

Strategies for coping with normal wildfires are everywhere inadequate in the case of intense, fast-moving ones and much more in the face of extreme wildfire events (EWEs). After a detailed analysis of wildfires fatalities, the chapter proposes a new adaptive approach to cope with wildfires and possible actions to be undertaken before, during, and after a fire. The new approach is labeled BESAFE and synthesizes a holistic perspective in the actions to be undertaken by civilians and fire agencies in a collaborative way that can be easily adapted to the social and geographic context.

The current view of wildfires in scientific literature is that they cannot be excluded from Earth. It is necessary to learn how to coexist with wildfires. Several initiatives have been proposed to increase buildings resistance and the reduction of fuels. In this chapter is discussed the Fire Smart Territory (FST) concept, as a holistic planning philosophy, acting at territory level. On the one side, it presents an alternative to fuel management, a very expensive activity, proposing the introduction or maintenance of productive activities that break landscape continuity and connectivity, assuring a blanket reduction of fuel load, contributing to decrease vulnerability of the exposed local communities and, consequently, losses and damage. On the other side, the perspective of acting on concerned communities, by empowering them, can be obtained through training, recovery of traditional wisdom, and knowledge, and enhancing their resilience leading to reduction of vulnerability and return of rural communities to their natural role of guardian of the territory or even better the transformers of the territory. FST not only can be effective in containing wildfires but also it guarantees the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Extreme wildfires events (EWEs) represent a minority among all wildfires but are a true challenge for societies as they exceed the current control capacity even in the best prepared regions of the world and they create destruction and a disproportionately number of fatalities. Recent events in Portugal, Chile, Greece, Australia, Canada, and the USA provide evidence that EWEs are an escalating worldwide problem, exceeding all previous records. Despite the challenges put by climate change, the occurrence of EWEs and disasters is not an ecological inevitability. In this chapter the rationale of the definition of EWEs and the integration of potential consequences on people and assets in a novel wildfire classification scheme are proposed and discussed. They are excellent instruments to enhance wildfire risk and crisis communication programs and to define appropriate prevention, mitigation, and response measures which are crucial to build up citizens’ safety.

International audience; The most widely used metrics to characterize wildfire regime and estimate the impact of wildfires are total burnt area (BA) and the number of fire events (FE). However, these are insufficient to analyse the threat to society of a new fire regime characterized by a higher occurrence of very large events. To overcome this weakness, we propose the use of a Concentration Index (CIB) which makes it possible to identify spatio‐temporal patterns. The frequency distribution of BA follows a negative exponential distribution almost everywhere, in which a small minority of FE is responsible of the majority of BA. In this article, the spatio‐temporal behaviour of BA is analysed in Western Mediterranean Europe, with particular focus on Portugal, Spain, France and Italy, using data from the European Forest Fire Information System and national wildfire databases. This is the first time that the CI has been applied to wildfire events. This research shows that, in most Mediterranean European countries, the amount of BA is increasingly related with a lower number of fires. The spatio‐temporal distribution of CIB shows high variability in all of the countries analysed in Europe. Portugal and Spain show increasing significant trends of CIB + 7.6% (p‐value = 0.001) and + 1.3% per decade (p‐value = 0.003). Statistically significant correlations for Portugal, Spain and Italy are also found between the annual CIB and several teleconnection indices. The application of the CIB demonstrates its discriminatory ability, which is a key point in detecting vulnerable areas and temporal trends under climate change.

Despite the increasing challenges wildfires are posing around the globe, and the flourishing production of high-quality wildfire scientific knowledge, the ability of fire science to impact knowledge on the ground, for people, society, economy, and the environment, in a way that facilitates change in the current wildfire management system has been limited. We believe that one reason for this limited impact is due to the fragmentation of this scientific knowledge. Therefore, we propose a Translational Wildfire Science (TWFS) as a new field of knowledge that captures the comprehensive dynamics of wildfire events, that provides information relevant, useful, and accessible to practitioners and citizens, and that facilitates the transfer of scientific knowledge into practice. The foundations of TWFS, including the main principles, the overarching characteristics, and the approach of a TWFS scientist, are presented. Finally, the next steps to be undertaken to consolidate TWFS as a new scientific field are identified.

Este artigo apresenta os resultados da analise das causas dos incendiosflorestais na Regiao Norte de Portugal, para o periodo de 2012-2014. Osdados foram analisados com recurso a estatistica descritiva, SIG, analisede clusters e densidade Kernel. A analise evidencia forte expresao dascausas desconhecidas, seguida por causas negligentes e intencionais. Estainvestigacao evidencia que a Regiao Norte nao e um espaco homegeneoem termo de causas e motivos os incendios florestais. Potenciais problemasna atribuicao das causas foram identificados e discutidos.

O segundo Encontro de "Dialogo entre ciencia e utilizadores" teve porobjetivo principal promover a discussao entre investigadores e operacionaissobre incendios florestais e a procura de um novo paradigma. A investigacaoque se apresenta resulta da interacao e dos dialogos que aconteceramdurante as sessoes de trabalho que reuniram investigadores e utilizadoresem torno de questoes estruturantes relacionadas com as potencialidadese fragilidades do Plano Nacional de Defesa da Floresta Contra Incendios(PNDFCI) 2006/2012. A colaboracao entre a comunidade cientifica e acomunidade dos utilizadores foi enriquecedora e podera contribuir paraum redirecionamento da investigacao cientifica para problemas que foramabordados e que necessitam de estudo cientifico aprofundado e colaborativocom os utilizadores.

International audience; Wildland urban interfaces (WUI) are expanding, so it is important to share knowledge and research results, particularly in the fields of humanities and economics. In the field of human societies, and vulnerabilities, from an economic point of view, like evaluation of costs and of potential losses are both needed. An analysis of the governance is important for understanding the local policies. The relationship with the ecosystem around the WUI is also a key point to assess knowledge inside and around the WUI. Furthermore, information about changes, risk assessment and modeling is of great importance to stakeholders’ decisions.; Les interfaces urbain-forêt (IUF) sont en extension, il est donc important de partager les connaissances et les résultats des recherches, notamment dans les domaine des sciences humaines et des sciences économiquess. Une analyse de la gouvernance est importante pour comprendre les politiques locales. La relation avec l’écosystème autour de l’IUF est également un point clé. De plus, les informations sur les changements, l’évaluation des risques et la modélisa-tion sont d’une grande importance pour les décisions des parties prenantes

International audience

Every year worldwide some extraordinary wildfires occur, overwhelming suppression capabilities, causing substantial damages, and often resulting in fatalities. Given their increasing frequency, there is a debate about how to address these wildfires with significant social impacts, but there is no agreement upon terminology to describe them. The concept of extreme wildfire event (EWE) has emerged to bring some coherence on this kind of events. It is increasingly used, often as a synonym of other terms related to wildfires of high intensity and size, but its definition remains elusive. The goal of this paper is to go beyond drawing on distinct disciplinary perspectives to develop a holistic view of EWE as a social-ecological phenomenon. Based on literature review and using a transdisciplinary approach, this paper proposes a definition of EWE as a process and an outcome. Considering the lack of a consistent “scale of gravity” to leverage extreme wildfire events such as in natural hazards (e.g., tornados, hurricanes and earthquakes) we present a proposal of wildfire classification with seven categories based on measurable fire spread and behavior parameters and suppression difficulty. The categories 5 to 7 are labeled as EWE.

In the European context, Portugal is the country with the highest number of wildfires and the second with more burnt area. The vast majority of these events are of human origin, whether caused by accident, negligence or arson, reason why it is particularly important to know the regime of these wildfires for forest and wildfire management activities. The study focuses on the most recent years of 2001-2014, when wildfire ignition's coordinates are known, and aims to identify and characterize the wildfire incidence spatial patterns of variability as well as their main drivers. After grouping wildfires with human cause into negligent and intentional, we studied their spatial distribution in terms of normalized number of wildfires (NNF) and burnt area (NBA) in the five Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics II regions of mainland Portugal. Results disclose an uneven spatial distribution of the fire incidence, characterized by a south-north gradient, much higher values in Norte region and more evident for intentional than for negligent wildfires. Human and biophysical drivers strongly influence NNF and NBA, at regional and national scales. Distribution patterns at regional scale, for negligent and intentional wildfires are quite different from entire mainland and all wildfires. Drivers' influence is higher for intentional than for negligent wildfires, for southern than for northern regions and for NBA than for NNF. The leading drivers of NNF are distance to roads (d) population density (pd) and altitude (h) while of NBA are h, d, slope and pd, and this influence is higher for intentional than for negligent wildfires.

In the last few years, in several parts of the world, under extreme weather conditions, several catastrophic fires have taken place. These fires are called mega-fires. They are not just large fires but extreme events in their behavior, difficulty to control and impacts. Portugal historically has little experience with mega-fires, but recent fire events exacerbated by climate change and landscape management has changed this situation. In the year 2003, the worst and largest wildfires were ever recorded in the Algarve region and in the central region of Portugal. However, this paper focuses on the Algarve region, using primary (i.e. questionnaires, interviews, satellite images, and fieldwork) and secondary data (i.e. Portuguese wildfire database, central and local governments’ fire damages reports). Using wildfire ecological and socio-economic impacts as an important criterion to classify an event as a mega-fire, this paper conclude that two mega-fires occurred in 2003 in the Algarve Region. Taking into account the weakness in Portuguese wildfire impacts reporting process, it is proposed a checklist of categories of damages and losses to support future data acquisition. Considering that mega-fires are a new reality in Portugal, this paper shows that increasing suppression capabilities in terms of means, readiness and effectiveness are important to avoid small fires to become mega-fires in days of critical fire danger. Nevertheless, facing the impossibility of changing the extreme weather conditions, given the complexity and uncertainty surrounding mega-fires occurrence and severity, the main challenge is to improve wildfire risk reduction instead of focusing only on fire suppression. This paper proposes a framework which conceptualizes fire impacts as a result of interaction between fire behavior, vulnerability and suppression capabilities. It can be used for promoting wildfire prevention and mitigation. It is urgent to enhance prevention measures in order to change fire behavior and reduce vulnerability of ecosystems and societies, as well as to increase the engagement of communities in wildfire risk management.

A perspetiva sintomatica centrada no controlo do fogo atraves daextincao rapida das ignicoes, nao resolveu nem controlou o problemados incendios florestais. Este tem uma natureza estruturalcuja solucao so pode ser encontrada no âmbito do Sistema Social eEcologico Acoplado em que se origina e se desenvolve. Neste trabalhointroduzimos o conceito de Fire Smart Territory1 que assenta numanova perspetiva de gestao dos incendios florestais que promove ummaior equilibrio e inter-relacao entre a prevencao e a extincao.Palavras -chave: Controlo do fogo, prevencao, risco.

The current wildfire policies in European Union countries have not solved the wildfire problem and probably will not be effective in the future, as all the initiatives focus on suppression and minimize the use of fire embedded in the Traditional Ecologic Knowledge of European communities. The traditional fire use as a tool for land management has been handled and almost criminalized by an urban-centric perspective and anti-fire bias. These policies are poorly adapted to, and cannot cope with, the complex nature of the wildfire phenomenon since they neglect its social roots. This paper presents a forward-looking and innovative model of wildfire management focused not at the landscape, or community, or forest level but at the territory scale. Fire Smart Territory (FST) is the proposed theoretical, the context specific, and place-based operational framework. The grounding assumptions of FST are that fire is a dual and ambiguous process, that it is not merely a biophysical process with social overtones but a social process, and it is a complex issue which can be understood only in the coupled human and natural systems where it occurs. FST advocates that the current wildfire challenges cannot be solved by a check list of theoretically adequate procedures, but through locally understanding the wildfire problem and strategically preparing each territory to be less wildfire prone, and its inhabitants to be less vulnerable, and more resilient, in the scope of economic valorization, sustainable development, and safety of the territory resources.

Flood Management Strategies in Frequent and Small Scale Events: Lessons Learned from Amarante (Portugal) The 2000/2001 winter was exceptionally rainy in Portugal and between November 2000 and March 2001 several floods occurred. In this period some localities registered the highest floods of the last hundred years. One example is the town of Amarante, in the north of Portugal, that has been affected by several flood events during the time frame previously mentioned. There is no reference of these episodes in the international disaster databases (e.g. Em-data, Darmouth Flood Observatory) because it is a very small scale event, and no fatalities were recorded. However, it is a recurrent situation with considerable direct and indirect damages which affects a small part of the cultural heritage centre which is also an important touristic and commercial area. The objective of this paper is to understand the characteristics of flood risk in Amarante which is a product of the hazard and the vulnerability of exposed elements (e.g. people, environment and structures) in order to improve flood disaster management efficiency. The paper is organized into two parts. On the first one we add new data to the previous knowledge through the identification of flood episodes in two time periods, between 1937 and 1955 and from 1985 to 2001. Each event was characterized according to several parameters (e.g. flood peak, water height, flooding area, duration, and flow velocity) and classified into six levels according to flood magnitude (water height), flooded area (extension) and potential impacts (damages). This approach improves hazard knowledge and systematizes emergency response procedures. It can improve the communication, not only between the different civil protection agents, but also between them and the citizens during the emergency. It can also be useful for assurance companies' policy. The second part is focused on the management of the March 21st 2001 flood which was the most severe in Amarante's history at least in the last hundred years. Understanding the damages and the impacts of flood on livelihoods, the emergency procedures, as well as the articulation between people and civil protection agents are fundamental to increase the efficiency of flood risk management strategies and the determination of appropriate protection levels.

Recent data suggest that both Portugal and Brazil have seen an increase in the number of forest fires in protected areas. In Portugal, between 1992 and 2003 the annual average area burned in protected areas was 10,418 ha and in the period 2001-2005 was 16,025 ha. Nevertheless, in Brazil, the state of Santa Catarina stands out as the state recording a decrease in the number of fires. Based on these facts, the main objectives of the present research are to analyse the incidence, severity and causes of forest fires in protected areas in both countries and to assess the impacts of prevention and combat policies as well as the strategies and models implemented in the recovery of burned areas.

The November 1st 1755 earthquake remains the most powerful and destructive to hit Europe so far. Although frequently associated with the city of Lisbon, this earthquake caused similar or greater damage and casualties in the southwest of the Algarve, where the seismic intensity was estimated at IX-X Mercalli Intensity Scale. Some minutes later, a tsunami increased the dimension of the disaster. Using simple techniques of simulation, we estimated the potential impacts of the occurrence of a similar event to the 1755 tsunami nowadays in Portimão.

Portugal is a European country with highest forest fires density and burned area. Since beginning of official forest fires database in 1980, an increase in number of fires and burned area as well as appearance of large and catastrophic fires have characterized fire activity in Portugal. In 1980s, the largest fires were just a little bit over 10,000 ha. However, in the beginning of 21st century several fires occurred with a burned area over 20,000 ha. Some of these events can be classified as mega-fires due to their ecological and socioeconomic severity. The present study aimed to discuss the characterization of large forest fires trend, in order to understand if the largest fires that occurred in Portugal were exceptional events or evidences of a new trend, and the constraints of fire size to characterize fire effects because, usually, it is assumed that larger the fire higher the damages. Using Portuguese forest fire database and satellite imagery, the present study showed that the largest fires could be seen at the same time as exceptional events and as evidence of a new fire regime. It highlighted the importance of size and patterns of unburned patches within fire perimeter as well as heterogeneity of fire ecological severity, usually not included in fire regime description, which are critical to fire management and research. The findings of this research can be used in forest risk reduction and suppression planning.

This chapter introduces the fact that of the several natural hazards contemporary communities may encounter, the complex interdependencies that exist between people and the forest sources of wildfire hazards make wildfire a unique hazard. It then proceeds to provide an overview of how historical patterns of interdependence between people and forests coupled with recent trends in population growth and their encroachment on forest environments for lifestyle and recreation are increasing risk. Next, it outlines a social–ecological approach to framing and managing wildfire risk and discusses environmental, ecological, and social factors that play complementary roles in the development and thus the management of wildfire risk. The chapter introduces international case studies that discuss the historical, social, cultural, and ecological aspects of wildfire risk management in countries with a long history of dealing with this hazard (e.g., United States and Australia) and in countries (e.g., Taiwan) where wildfire hazards represent a new and growing threat to the social and ecological landscape.

More than 90% of wildfires are caused by human activity, but other causes include lighting, drought, wind and changing weather conditions, underground coal fires, and even volcanic activity. Wildfire Hazards, Risks, and Disasters, one of nine volumes in the Elsevier Hazards and Disasters series, provides a close and detailed examination of wildfires and measures for more thorough and accurate monitoring, prediction, preparedness, and prevention. It takes a geo-scientific and environmental approach to the topic while also discussing the impacts of human-induced causes such as deforestation, debris burning and arson-underscoring the multi-disciplinary nature of the topic. It presents several international case studies that discuss the historical, social, cultural and ecological aspects of wildfire risk management in countries with a long history of dealing with this hazard (e.g., USA, Australia) and in countries (e.g., Taiwan) where wildfire hazards represent a new and growing threat to the social and ecological landscape. * Puts the contributions of environmental scientists, social scientists, climatologists, and geoscientists at your fingertips* Arms you with the latest research on causality, social and societal impacts, economic impacts, and the multi-dimensional nature of wildfire mitigation, preparedness, and recovery* Features a broad range of tables, figures, diagrams, illustrations, and photographs to aid in the retention of key concepts* Discusses steps for prevention and mitigation of wildfires, one of the most expensive and complex geo-hazards in the world.

The aim of this paper is to present the methodologies, a software and results developed in the European FUME program to map the rural-urban interfaces (RUI). Three methodologies were set up for RUI mapping: two on the local scale (the community scale) and one on the global scale (the European scale). The first local scale method was developed in a French context by IRSTEA. In this case the RUI is defined by a radius of 100 metres around each house located at a distance inferior to 200 metres from forests or scrublands. The building density was used to create four classes of housing configuration. Then the structure of vegetation was characterized and mapped to emphasize its horizontal continuity with landscape ecology metrics. The RUI map was created by a combination of housing configuration and vegetation characterisation. The second local scale method developed by TRAGSATEC is based on three phases. First a settlement map creation with the union of a land use cover and a vegetation cover defines the housing and the landscape that surrounds them. Then a buffer is created around settlements which are located at a distance inferior to 400 m from the forest; its size depends on the difficulty in protecting the houses against fire. In the final phase the different types of RUI are defined from the type of settlement and vegetation-settlement connection around houses. The global scale method developed by IRSTEA makes possible the comparison of the situations and the importance of RUI in the different European countries. On the global scale, the rural urban interfaces are defined by a radius of 400 metres around houses located at less than 200 metres from forests or shrubland. The global rural urban interface map results from the combination of criteria from the Corine Land Cover database and from the soil sealing database. A major step of the work was the development of a software named RUImap with the three different methods above. The use of the tool could be very advantageous for fire risk analysis on RUI scale, and for local quantification of fuel charge and continuity. This information linked with the direct knowledge of the general context is very important for the local fire risk assessment.

Res_eng:Despite enhanced fire suppression efforts the number of fires has increased in Europe and in North Africa, above all in Portugal, and the extinction oriented model of fire control is no more suitable to change the trend. Hence, the need of shifting from a reactive model grounded on a fast and strong reaction, to more pro-active procedures supported by prevention, aimed not only to fuel reduction but also to gradually intervene on the causes of fires. In this perspective, a fair knowledge of man-caused fire outbreak motives is a crucial point. This paper intended to compare and interpret those motives in Portugal, Italy and Algeria obtained through the perception of experts (forest experts and other practitioners). In this research new data was collected in the North Region of Portugal and data already available for Algeria and Italy was commented. The results of the research highlighted great similarities of the main fire causes and motives identified by the experts from the case-studies in the three countries. Fire outbreak motives are not related with deliberate fire setting but, mainly, with the use of fire in rural activities. Fire is a manageable tool that is still needed in many agro-forestry systems. One of the findings of this study pointed out the need to design and develop specific prevention programs able to reduce fire incidence and promote practices more respectful of the tradition and needs of rural communities, often criminalized for their habitudes of using fire as a multipurpose tool. Deliberate fire can represent isolated and sporadic actions however, some of them result from organized and even criminal interests. Finally, this paper argues that improved fire prevention to address the roots of fire problems cannot be achieved without a deep knowledge of the complexity and diversity of the fire outbreak motives.

In Portuguese case study, were considered two hazards with very different characteristics. Coastal erosion is mainly triggered by storms events. Coastal erosion is influenced by the regional context and the sedimentary budget in the coast (partially influenced by human action). For the same hydrodynamic conditions the coastal erosion can be reversible if sedimentary budget is positive or equilibrated, on the contrary, it is irreversible if the sedimentary budget is negative. Contrarily, most forest fires have an anthropogenic origin being one of the most predictable hazards. In the validation of the Move framework for these two hazards different methodologies were proposed. An Index of Coastal Erosion Exposure and Fragility, applied to three scenarios of erosion of land in the next 30 years (Very likely, Likely, Possible) was elaborated. It was also proposed Indicators of Coastal Erosion Resilience which were decomposed into capacity to anticipate, to cope, and to recover and cover five main types of resilience (i.e., physical, environmental, economic, social, and institutional). For forest fires were defined indicators for the three components and dimensions considered by the MOVE’s framework. Each one of these indicators has meaning in itself and can be used to promote vulnerability reduction, even though all indicators can be aggregated by dimension and component until obtain a single value to express the overall vulnerability. The main challenge was deciding on the weight of each indicator mainly of the social ones, of each dimension, and each component. Some of the indicators selected for coastal erosion and forest fire vulnerability assessment are hazard independent and can be shared by several hazards. The indicators lists presented for both test cases try to cover all the vulnerability roots, however some variables can be measured using another indicators according to the scale of analysis, data availability, and environment and social characteristics of the area. This reflects some flexibility on the framework operationalization without negative impacts in vulnerability assessment. The implementation of MOVE’s framework is important to enhance coastal erosion and forest fire risk management. If the factors that influence vulnerability are understood, state agencies will be in a better position to make informed choices regarding risk reduction and how the communities can be mobilized to collaborate on it.

O paradigma físico tem sido dominante na gestão dos incêndios florestais, mas estes são um processo complexo resultante da interação entre as componentes ecológica e humana. Este artigo propõe uma reflexão sobre a polissemia com que os termos risco, perigo e vulnerabilidade têm sido utilizados na investigação sobre incêndios florestais e apresenta um modelo de avaliação da vulnerabilidade. É realçada a importância deste conceito para uma gestão mais eficaz do risco de incêndio florestal assim como são apresentados alguns desafios para a sua operacionalização.