Additional information

Concerning forest fires, the project lists a series of objectives and measures to apply to reduce the impact and harmful effects of a potential fire.



First it is critical to reduce the surface fuel load in order to lower the potential flame height in case of fire. This can be achieved by reducing shrub cover and plant waste for example through clearings, selective scrub removal or proper treatment of residues (e.g. chipping).



Then, complementary to the control of the surface fuel, the height of the tree crown base should be raised. This creates discontinuity between the tree crowns and the vegetation underneath. Although this may increase the surface wind and fire speed, it avoids the fire spreading to the crowns, which is especially damaging for the trees. For the same purpose it is also important to reduce the density of the crowns through thinnings and clearings. However, it should be noted that a very low tree density also not desirable for these Mediterranean oak forests as this may negatively affect the biodiversity and retention of surface moisture.



Finally, it would be good to have some large trees spread across the forest. This increases the potential of survival and regeneration in certain situations. These taller than the average trees may serve as seed reservoir, for example when a fire has partially affected some of the tree crowns.