The first in-person gathering of the FIRE-ADAPT consortium took place at the Spain Study Hub between April and May 2023. The Universitat de Girona (UdG), Centre de Ciència i Tecnologia Forestal de Catalunya (CTFC), Universitat de Lleida (UdL), Pau Costa Foundation (PCF) and Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) organised the event. 42 partners from 12 European organisations and 13 from eight Latin American institutions participated, including researchers, fire managers and representatives of non-profit entities. This was an opportunity for the consortium to meet face-to-face, define the steps to be taken in the different working areas, learn about local Integrated Fire Management (IFM) strategies and their impacts, and exchange knowledge and practices, including with other European projects.
“The main goal of all these activities was to bring together the partners for the first time, making a starting point in which everyone would get to know each other, and see what possibilities there are to work, to collaborate, and to set the framework that will serve us for the next four years”, says the Project Coordinator Dr. Núria Prat-Guitart, from the Pau Costa Foundation.
The event developed in two stages. The first one was at the UdG, from the 26th to the 28th of April, hosted by the Animal Biology Lab & BioLand (UdG), led by Dr. Pere Pons. Dr. Pere Casals and Dr. Míriam Piqué, from the Multifunctional Forest Management Programme (CTFC), took charge of organising the second stage at the CTFC in Solsona, from the 2nd to the 8th of May. The programme of activities included field trips, working sessions, oral presentations, and, lastly, an open day with guest speakers from other European projects.
“For us, it is very important to understand what the European projects are going to generate and to be able to join forces to achieve common objectives. In the end, what we all want is to be able to better manage fire risk and protect biodiversity”, explains Dr. Prat-Guitart.
The field trips were done to Montgrí and Cap the Creus Natural Parks, Llobera and the 2021 wildfire in Santa Coloma de Queralt, and in collaboration with a range of local actors that included researchers, fire managers, shepherds, voluntary forest stewards and technicians from the projects TREEADS, FIRE-RES, HoliSoils and Fire Flocks, the Grup de Recolzament d’Actuacions Forestals (GRAF) of the Catalan Fire and Rescue Service, the Agrupacions de Defensa Forestal (ADF) and the Cap de Creus Natural Park. They allowed participants to know about the history and impacts of wildfires, forest management strategies, and IFM practices like prescribed burning and grazing on the landscape, biodiversity, carbon fluxes, and soil in Catalonia.
“We have taken advantage of the fact that the partners were in a Mediterranean environment where there is a traditional use of fire and an ecology of fire that can be interesting to learn about,” adds Dr. Prat-Guitart.
The meeting stimulated plenty of discussions on the different manners that IFM is being implemented and executed in the associated countries. Latin American partners shared their work with local communities that apply their traditional fire knowledge to use it as a tool to manage ecosystems for a variety of purposes, including the supply of food.
The time spent together and knowing about other projects served partners to strengthen ongoing and make new professional connections, contributing to the international network of wildfire experts that FIRE-ADAPT seeks to consolidate.
“I think the most important part for the partners who have visited us has been to know what is being done here, how they can establish collaborative relationships during the project. It’s very hard to do that without knowing very well the people you work with”, states Dr. Prat-Guitart.
After the days in Catalonia, some partners travelled to Montpellier to participate in the workshop co-organised by partner Bibiana Bilbao, de COBRA Collective CIC, which focused on how fire is managed in Latin America and the Caribbean and discussing the needs that must be fulfilled in order to fully implement IFM in different contexts, each with their social, cultural, political, economic, and environmental singularities.
The next FIRE-ADAPT gathering will be at the Mexico Study Hub, from the 25th of November to the 10th of December 2023. It is organised by the Comisión Nacional Forestal (CONAFOR) and World Resources Institute-México, and will get science and practice together to deliver a Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (TREX).