Additional information

The LIFE+ORGEST project has tested forestry practices to reduce wild fire risk in Mediterranean forests of Catalonia while maintaining forest productivity. The test included the use of a new fire risk map and stand-level vulnerability indexes, which can help land owners and forest managers to assess the wild fire risk of their stands using stand parameters such as height to the canopy, height of the undergrowth or distance from the undergrowth to the canopy. Taking this wild fire risk assessment as a basis, the project produced the following recommendations to reduce the risk of wild fires, while maintaining production:

- Consider two production-prevention silvicultural models:

one prioritising fire risk reduction in areas such as ravines, crests, strategic areas for fire control and areas with low productivity,

and another one for more productive areas, prioritising forest production. In these forest production areas the following guidelines should be followed:

a) In stands with high and medium wild fire risk; reduce vertical and horizontal biomass continuity by creating a patchy structure of small forests in irregular stands.

b) Vertical and horizontal biomass discontinuity should also be promoted by clearing undergrowth higher than 1,3 m and trees lower than 2 m, keeping undergrowth cover under 30%, keeping an average distance between the undergrowth and the canopies of 1,5 m and pruning living branches below 1,3 m of height.



The project has also produced a layman`s report to explain the project and its results.