Partner und Internationale Organisationen
(Englisch)
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A, B, CY, FIN, F, D, GR, H, I, NL, N, PL, P,RO, SI, E, S, CH, GB
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Abstract
(Englisch)
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Forest fires are a recurrent feature of Winters in Ticino, Southern Switzerland. During that season little precipitation occurs and drought events appear, while strong Foehn situations take place. These drastically dry out the fuel available in the forests, which are likely to burn straightforwardly. Wildland Fires are intricate phenomena that develop only if adequate climatic conditions are encountered, sufficient fuel is available, and triggers are good enough to ignite fuel. In the context of fire reduction, the current research shows that accurate prevision is still difficult and prevention of wildland fires proves more efficient. prevention can only be achieved if climate behaviour, fuel availability and triggers are well identified. an approach was developed mixing social surveys and GIS tools, in order to seize the heterogeneity of conditions leading to fire events. Forest fire do not occur during the warmest season (Summer) in Ticino, but during the driest (Winter). Seasonality of fires implies that most fires are usually ground fires that rage in understoreys where dead leafs have accumulated after depletion. Fires are for the most human-induced. This confers an unforeseeable character to forest fires, which do not necessarily occur when conditions are driest. Weekends and public holidays are potentially risky periods. Minimum and maximum temperatures have increased significantly and relative humidity decreased significantly for all daily measures during fire season. The present study suggests that fire-prone conditions are likely to become even more acute. In that context, human behaviours will even be increasingly important for fire development. Not all species in Ticino's forests are flammable the same manner under different conditions. It appears that more species are flammable the same way under standard and moist conditions, than under dry conditions. Some laurophyllous species account for the most flammable and are favoured by climate change. These laurphyllous species are mainly located at lower elevations. forest fire policy in Ticino appears to responds foremost to fire suppression, although fire has been part of Ticino's landscapes for over thousand years. The negative perception of fire in that context did not favour a mitigation system focused on the trigger of fire (e.g. education), but more on fire events themselves (e.g. fire suppression). This is particularly important in regards to the most important cause of fires in Ticino: negligence. The survey indicates that even if people are sensitive towards nature and forest fires phenomena, some aspects such as season, and location of fires are mostly not very well understood, although principal causes are clearly identified by locals. There is a general belief that fires are increasing due to forest 'untidyness' and anthropised forests are better than naturals. Local authorities will be faced with more extreme climates and changes in ecosystems and, at the same time, some aspects of fire dynamics are not well understood by local population, which often is responsible for forest fires. Therefore, prevention will need to be adapted at different spatial and temporal scales integrating socio-cultural parameters simultaneously.
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