MED-Foreste

The MED-Foreste project - forest ecosystem management for forest fire risk reduction - is a "simple" project started in April 2019 with a budget of 1.109.908 €, of which 85% financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which is part of a large family of projects, called MED. This includes the strategic project MED-Star - Strategies and measures for fire risk mitigation in the Mediterranean area - and 3 other simple projects (InterMED,MedCoopFire, MED-Pss), all lasting three years.

Within this group of projects, MED-Foreste deals with forest fire prevention, through experimentation and implementation of works aimed at active forest management.

The fire risk in the Mediterranean area is undoubtedly linked to the ongoing climate changes, but in the case of forests the risk is greatly aggravated by the general abandonment of agricultural and forestry-pastoral activities, especially in mountain and marginal areas. In fact, abandonment determines an increase in the forest area, even in urban coastal areas, with a consequent increase in combustible material, a decrease in areas of discontinuity and the resistance and resilience of ecosystems to the passage of fire. Defining new prevention actions therefore means acting on the possible causes of fires, making forests less inflammable, more resistant and resilient to fire and safer for those who live there.

Spreading the culture of prevention among local administrators and citizens will make it possible to contain the destruction of the environmental and landscape heritage and to reduce the costs resulting from the devastating effects of fires. Moreover, the recovery of forest management could create new economic opportunities for local communities, allowing the start or consolidation of sustainable production activities.