Mediterranean cooperation for the defense of forests against fires
Every year, in Europe, the area covered by fires reaches 550000 ha (CIrcular MinAmbiente 2004), 95% of which in Mediterranean countries, causing damage to property and livelihoods and loss of life. Forest fires increase groundwater risks, pollution, global warming, erosion and loss of biodiversity. It is, therefore, crucial to control them. The objective is to develop a more effective strategy to manage fire risks and extinguishment and a resilient response system that includes civil society. The approach is to gather the knowledge and skills of each partner and create a common action/reaction system. Policies and procedures need to harmonise; response teams need interoperability. The above will lead to the creation of new tools compatible with existing facilities and a cross-border Forest Fire Prevention Unit (FPU) to help neighbouring regions quickly and independently. Past international fire drills (Sardinia 2008 and Prometheus) will provide the basis for an FPU experiment as part of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (EU Decisions 1313/2013 and 762/2014). The aim is to strengthen existing synergies and create new ones. One of the most effective countermeasures is organising a widespread network to decide the appropriate prevention and alert actions, operational readiness, extinguishment methods and use of resources. Operations will involve radio communications, enhanced emergency management, innovative knowledge sharing tools, forecasting models of flame front propagation and cross-border fire drills. The project correlates with the strategic MEDSTAR project