LIFE+ DERMOGEST

Forest fires are the greatest natural threat to the forests of southern Europe. Although fire is an intrinsic disturbance to Mediterranean forests, the abandonment of rural areas, along with measures to eradicate certain species, has led to increased forest cover and biomass undergrowth. These developments are responsible for the emergence of second-generation fire: large forest fires (GIF) or megafires. These megafires result in human casualties, damage to properties, reduced soil fertility and they threaten biodiversity. An average of 500 000 acres are damaged by fire annually in Europe, resulting in large emissions of CO2 and other gases.

European policy promotes the prevention of megafires by encouraging active forest management and silvicultural treatments that reduce the vulnerability of stands to fire. Since 2004, Catalonia has been developing a set of new silvicultural models, called the ORGEST models, which integrate megafire prevention.

The aim of the DEMORGEST project is to prevent the generation and propagation of large forest fires. The project will 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 efficiency of these models is greatly enhanced when applied within the framework of a fire prevention plan that covers a large area. Thus, the proposed approach has two main goals: 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; and to demonstrate the application of the ORGEST models in the widest possible number of scenarios, using a network of experimental and demonstrative sites located in seven forest typologies spread across Catalonia. These models can then be transferred to other Mediterranean countries.

• Protection of 3 massifs (1 in El Baix Penedès and 2 in El Solsonès), which represent 3,176 hectares, based on the management of 5% of their total area identified as strategic for the prevention and fighting of large forest fires.
• 58% of the Forest Management Plans approved between January 2014 and June 2017 use the ORGEST silvicultura models. Over half of them have a combined production-prevention objective.
• 2 collaboration structures created to continue the research, dissemination, knowledge transfer and training on multi-functional forest management: The Demonstration Plot Network on innovative silviculture and the marteloscopes.
• 11 management support documents published (ORGEST guides, wood classification guide, biodiversity index and technical leaflets).
• 34 workers from forestry companies trained in the practical application of the ORGEST models and the criteria for the reduction of a stand’s vulnerability to fire.