Different Strategies for Resilience to Wildfires: The Experience of Collective Land Ownership in Galicia (Northwest Spain)

Manuel Marey-Perez, Xurxo Loureiro, Eduardo José Corbelle-Rico and Cristina Fernández-Filgueira
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Manuel Marey-Perez: Research Group PROePLA (GI-1716), Departamento de Producción Vexetal e Proxectos de Enxeñería, Escola Politécnica Superior de Enxeñería, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 27002 Lugo, Spain
Xurxo Loureiro: Laboratorio do Territorio, Departamento de Enxeñería Agroforestal, Escola Politécnica Superior de Enxeñería, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 27002 Lugo, Spain
Eduardo José Corbelle-Rico: Laboratorio do Territorio, Departamento de Enxeñería Agroforestal, Escola Politécnica Superior de Enxeñería, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 27002 Lugo, Spain
Cristina Fernández-Filgueira: Centro de Investigación Forestal-Lourizán, Xunta de Galicia, 36153 Pontevedra, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-13

Abstract: Resilience is not a particularly novel concept, but it has recently become frequently used as a measurement indicator of adaptation capacity under different approaches depending on the field of study. Ideally, for example, forest ecosystems would be resilient to wildfires, one of the most serious types of perturbation they are subjected to. In areas such as the northwest of Spain, a region with one of the most severe records of wildfire occurrence in western Europe, resilience indicators should be related with changes in land planning aimed to minimize the effects of forest fires. This article aimed to analyze the fire resilience strategies of a selected group of forest communities in northwest Spain. More specifically, the perceived risk of wildfires was compared with the actual record of fire events in these communities and the presence or absence of adaptive changes in management practices to reduce risk and improve recovery capacity. A mixed quantitative–qualitative approach was used to gather information about good practices, innovative solutions, and major obstacles for forest fire resilience in Galician common lands. The results suggest that while there is no single form of successful management, a key characteristic of resilient communities is the integration of fire as a management tool.

Keywords: resilience; forest fires; common lands (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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