LIFE+ DEMORGEST

The aim of the DEMORGEST project was to prevent the generation and propagation of large forest fires. The project planned to demonstrate to forest owners (owning 77% of the forestry area of Catalonia) and forest professionals that the proposed ORGEST forestry models are a feasible, viable and easy-to-adopt means of managing forests and protecting them from megafires. The proposed approach aimed to apply the models in two pilot areas with high fire risk, but different socio-economic characteristics, as a part of a fire prevention plan for two specific massifs. It also aimed to demonstrate the application of the ORGEST models in the widest possible range of scenarios, using a network of experimental and demonstrative sites located in seven forest typologies spread across Catalonia. These plots would facilitate the knowledge-transfer process (from planning to execution and subsequent monitoring and dissemination) while improving the contents and the theoretical framework of the different ORGEST treatments implemented based on their practical application and the comments of all stakeholders engaged in the different phases, such as research staff, owners, forestry company and forestry technicians. As such, these models could then be transferred to other Mediterranean countries.

The LIFE DEMORGEST project tested the most innovative ORGEST models in situ on a landscape scale and at stand scale. For the first scale, two fire-prone areas with differentiated socioeconomic characteristics were selected, one with Aleppo pine forests and the other one with black pine forests. For each area, ‘strategic management points’ were identified and the ORGEST model was applied at these points. In this way, treating a small area of 27 ha, for example, can help protect a much larger area, around 3 200 ha, from a large fire. At the scale of the stand scale, 10 ORGEST models were applied in seven Mediterranean formations, in order to create a network of demonstration plots, with the following species: Pinus halepensis, Pinus nigra, Pinus sylvestris, Quercus ilex, Quercus suber, Quercus humilis and Pinus pinea. Additionally, four ‘marteloscopes’ (transfer classrooms) were created. These are wooded stands, covering around a hectare, in which all the trees are numbered and measured. They serve as open areas to generate discussion among experts and students. They also allow felling marking practices to be carried out using different management criteria and objectives.