Forest fires: Fuel management

Fuel management is critical to reduce the probability of ignitions and fire propagation. The increasing trend in fuel load and continuity in southern Europe over the last century can be attributed to land abandonment, inadequate landscape and forest management, and fire exclusion policies.

Current prevention programmes suffer limited budget allocation and often lack an adaptive legislative framework able to regulate fuel management activities. There is also a lack of guidance for fuel management protocols at the EU level, including the use of prescribed burning.

The projected increase in drought severity and associated increase in fuel flammability due to climate change will further intensify forest fire risk beyond existing fire prone areas.However, there is currently a limited uptake of scientific knowledge by policy and management actors to address fuel management under future climate and land-use scenarios.