The project highlights the need for an innovative approach and based on scientific evidence to face forest fires, considering the limitation of traditional strategies.
With the aim of responding to the impacts generated by forest fires that affected the regions of Ñuble, Biobío and La Araucanía in 2023, a team from the Catholic University of the Blessed Conception (UCSC) develops a model aimed at improving the landscape resilience in front of the fire.
The initiative, entitled “Challenges for Post-Priest Recovery 2023”, is part of a contest promoted by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation and the National Research and Development Agency (ANID). The project is led by Dr. Gustavo Saiz, a researcher at the UCSC Faculty, and has as an alternate director the academic Dr. Sergio Contreras.
The study analyzes the effects of fires on soil quality and water resources, and seeks to establish a land scale modeling framework. This will allow evaluating “Fire-Smart” management scenarios, with the aim of generating proposals that contribute to building landscapes more resilient to fire.
Evaluation of the Fire Regime and environmental Analysis
In its initial stage, the initiative has focused on the characterization of the fire regime in the regions studied. To do this, an inventory of the burned surface since 2001, using high -resolution satellite images, is being prepared. To this are added georeferenced data related to climatic, topographic and evolution of land use and vegetation.
Part of the work includes the collection of soil samples and ashes in plots affected by fire. These data feed a predictive model called Weppcloud-Watar, which simulates sediment transport and allows quantifying the risk of water resources contamination.
This model is being applied in a pilot basin of the Cayumanque ecosystem-in the communes of Ránquil, Quillón and Florida-, as part of a collaboration within the framework of the MMA/GEF-PNUD project sustainable Mediterranean communities, promoted by the Seremi of the Environment of the Ñuble region.
Prevention and mitigation of post-capital impacts
The initiative also seeks to provide tools to anticipate the environmental effects after a fire, such as soil erosion and contamination of water bodies due to ash drag. These processes affect water quality, remediation costs increase and deteriorate ecosystem services.
“We are aware that in the current context of climate emergency, an innovative paradigm shift is necessary in the integral struggle against large forest fires. This need is backed by the wide scientific evidence that demonstrates that the strategies traditionally used to prevent large fires are widely inappropriate and simply will not work in the current climate framework,” said Dr. Gustavo Saiz.
The project highlights the need for an innovative and scientific evidence -based approach to face forest fires, considering the current context of climate emergency and the limitation of traditional strategies. Evaluating and predicting the risks is key to informing management decisions both in the short and in the long term.
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