White Paper on Forest Fires in the Alps
In the last years, intensity of wildfires and burned areas have increased around the world due to the anthropogenic climate change. Recent forest fire events proved quite well that forest fires are also an urgent issue in the Alpine region which can lead to the destruction of protection forests, increasing vulnerability to natural hazards and resulting in high costs. Forest fire frequency and severity will likely increase in the future due to climate change, more recreational use of forests and changing forest management. Especially protection forests dominated by coniferous tree species on southern slopes are at risk. The impacts of forest fires can lead to new avalanche-prone slopes, a higher risk of rockfall, mudslides or soil erosion.
The White paper on Forest fires in the Alps is tackling this topic. It proposes a framework for an integrated fire management, which addresses the drivers of the current and future fire regime in mountain forests, considers the needs of people living in and visiting the Alpine region and aims to mitigate the negative impacts of fires. The white paper also includes several recommendations and proposed actions to cope with the changing fire regime in the Alpine region.
Based on the English publication, a version of the white paper for Austria was completed in a follow-up work. This report was adapted to Austrian conditions and serves as a basis for strategic programming of the proposed initiatives for an integrated forest fire management in Austria.
Further information on the White Paper: