Wildland-Urban Interface fire exposure of rural settlements: The case of Montesinho Natural Park

Abstract

Coexistence with wildfires has always been part of human life. However, the severity of these events has intensified due to the combined effects of climate change and interventions on the environment. Rural settlements, especially those with heritage values, are vulnerable, leaving their existence under constant threat. Montesinho Natural Park, characterised by many settlements with remarkable vernacular buildings, exemplifies this situation. In response to this challenge and added to the wildfire hazard, it was chosen to apply the Wildland-Urban Interface Index (WUIX) methodology to assess the exposure of the wildland-urban interface (WUI) to wildfires in three of the villages: Aveleda, Montesinho, and Rio de Onor. The WUI represents the boundary between the natural landscape and the community and might serve as a path for the percolation of fire. The study focused on evaluating the evolution of WUI over time for those three villages by taking advantage of the two open data national orthophotos of 2018 and 2021. The initial stage of vegetation recognition was changed to an automated process, relying on a Python script that captures the image for the database, extracts the vegetation, converts, and prepares the files for applying WUIX, and again converts and georeferenced the results for analysis. This approach makes the application a faster, reliable and replicable process. As a result, maps of WUIX affectation were generated, visually and quantitatively pointing to the village of Aveleda as the one with a higher level of exposure. While the results alone cannot support the entire vulnerability assessment of those villages, they serve as a complement to efforts to define proactive measures for safeguarding the rural heritage.