Chapter 5 - Forest Fires in Europe: Facts and Challenges

Abstract

Forest fires (term used in Europe to designate the unwanted fires burning forests and wild lands) constitute a serious problem for Europe. Frequently, Thought of almost exclusively as a problem for France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, this chapter introduces how fire is now a hazard that affects most of the European countries. Although, a sharp gradient exists from the South to the North, in terms of fire regime (e.g., contributing and causing factors, fire frequency and area burned, fire behavior), the problem is common; no country seems exempt. The chapter discusses how contemporary forest fire risk can only be understood from a historical perspective and how this risk is growing exponentially as a result of high and increasing population density and a creeping urban sprawl that is increasing the extent and complexity of the wildland urban interface. This chapter also discusses how significant changes in land-use patterns are conflicting with historical land use practices are affecting the sustainable socioeconomic development in Europe. The impact of changes in critical climatic and weather conditions, such as during recurring heat waves and droughts, is discussed, as is their implications for reconciling social and economic development, environmental concerns, and living with forest fires in a sustainable and dynamic equilibrium in a European context.