The predictions of climate models are starting to be seen. In addition to a sustained increase in average temperatures, extreme episodes, such as the heat waves that are affecting us these days, are increasing frequency.
Southern European forests are particularly vulnerable to these new conditions: they are young, very homogeneous, made up of trees of the same age and species, and where the abandonment of traditional uses has led to a great development of vegetation. All this, together with the new temperature and humidity conditions, means that forest fires are reaching previously unknown dimensions, exceeding our capacity to extinguish them.
In contrast to strategies focused on the total suppression of fire, or the extreme simplification of forests (the misnamed “clearing” of undergrowth), in the LIFE RedBosques Clima project we explore solutions based on the conservation of forests in good condition, diverse and heterogeneous, and mosaic landscapes that hinder large fires and improve the capacity to adapt to climate change, preserving the valuable services that forests provide us with.
