Environment, forest management can reduce fire damage by 50%

Forest care can reduce the damage caused by fires by up to 50% and, at the same time, limit the spread of new fires. This has been established by a study carried out by Pefc, a non-profit association that is the national governing body of the Pefc (Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes) certification system, in which it maps out the national environmental and forestry scenario.

According to the analysis, a sustainably managed and certified forest can be affected by fire up to nine times less than non-certified forests.

"The climate change that is affecting the planet in a complex and dramatic way is unfortunately increasingly the cause or concomitant cause of fires that are difficult to control and disastrous, and it is therefore clear that activities are needed to help regulate and contain the loss of ecosystem services and forest cover," explains Marco Bussone, president of Pefc Italia. In Italy, the disregard for the forest and grazing heritage has weakened us, leaving many hectares of forest abandoned to a wild and risky state. It is urgent to intervene: of the 100 million euros of resources allocated by the fire decree in September 2021, the Ministry of Territorial Cohesion has yet to allocate about 40 million. These resources are more than necessary, because they must be spent on prevention with targeted investments in activities in the territories and within the forests themselves'.

The data also take into account the findings of the study 'Active governance of agro-pastoral, forest and protected areas mitigates the impacts of forest fires in Italy'. Using the Italian territory as a case study, it was observed how rural development, agro-pastoral activities, sustainable forest management and active nature are correlated with the impacts of fires.

The starting point was an analysis of 48,953 forest fires across the country that destroyed just under a million hectares of land between 2007 and 2017.