Building Forest Fires Resilience, the Incorporation of Local Knowledge into Disaster Mitigation Strategies

Elvira Santiago-Gómez () and Carmen Rodríguez-Rodríguez
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Elvira Santiago-Gómez: Department of Sociology and Sciences Communication, A Coruña University, 15005 A Coruña, Spain
Carmen Rodríguez-Rodríguez: Department of Sociology and Sciences Communication, A Coruña University, 15005 A Coruña, Spain

Social Sciences, 2023, vol. 12, issue 7, 1-14

Abstract: The severity of the socio-economic, political, and ecological damage caused by forest fires each year requires action plans for disaster risk reduction (DRR). Despite efforts made to incorporate participatory mechanisms into risk governance, much of the research on disaster risk reduction in academia is conducted under the deficit model. This paper proposes public engagement as a mechanism for incorporating community-based knowledge, experiences, and practices into DRR plans. Based on the case study of forest fires in Galicia (Spain), developed within the MITIGACT project, we explore, through the analysis of in-depth interviews, how forest fires are defined, how disaster management plans are evaluated and what concrete proposals are considered. The results highlight the need to strengthen social governance at the local level and to balance the resources dedicated to the three phases of prevention, extinction, and recovery, moving from a linear to a circular model.

Keywords: forest fire; resilience; disaster risk reduction; public engagement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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