Abstract
With the objective of trying to fight more efficiently against fire, two models of behaviour of forest fire in Catalunya have been analysed: the periurban fire in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (MAB) and forest fire in the comarca of Bages.In general, the increase of the bush and forest mass, derived from the abandonment of the traditional uses of the woods, together with a major frequentation have increased the risk of ignition and fire propagation.
The contrasted analysis of the fire data in the MAB and the Bages, in the corresponding territorial and human context, show two very different situations in relation with the risk factors. The MAB, with the 50% of the population in the 1.8 of the Catalan territory, is more vulnerable because of the number of ignitions, whereas the Bages with only a 4.2 % is more vulnerable to fire propagation.
In summary, the problems that the MAB and the Bages have to face up are:
- In the MAB, the heavier use of the territory helps the proliferation of ignitions specially located in the urban-fores interphase. On the other hand, it is much more difficult to control a less number of focuses in the Bages, although this territory has less mobility and fragmentation than the MAB.In relation with the structure of the territory, the MAB has a great fragmentation, whereas the Bages has a major continuity in the forest masses. The comarca suffers the generalized tendency of forest growth derived from the forest abandonment and the change of the uses of the soil.
- The actions of prevention are different. The MAB has an own strong prevention system, coordinated by the Collserola park, apart from participating in the general preventive plan applied to all the Catalan territory. The Bages only participates in the general prevention system .
As shown in the statistics, the control of the fire propagation in the MAB is well solved thanks to the quick detection efficiency, but it is necessary to make efforts to reduce the high number of ignitions. On the other hand, the Bages faces the complex problem ofthe increase of forest surface without management.In both areas, the forest function should make us think over the relationship between fire and forest management. All woods cannot be protected, but the risk of fire and the ways to prevent it, should be considered in the territorial planification and its consequences should be minimized.
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| Date of Award | 12 Feb 2001 |
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| Original language | Catalan |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Montserrat Pallarés Barberá (Director) & Josep Piñol Pascual (Director) |