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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
This paper explores the role of landscape planning as a tool for rural fire prevention.
It presents a methodology for a fire resilient and sustainable landscape model (FIRELAN) that
articulates the ecological and cultural components in a suitable and multifunction land-use plan.
FIRELAN is a conceptual and ecologically based model that recognizes river basin’ land morphology,
microclimate and species combustibility as the fundamental factors that determine fire behavior and
landscape resilience, along with the ecological network (EN) for achieving ecological sustainability
of the landscape. The model is constituted by the FIRELAN Network and the Complementary Areas.
This network ensures the effectiveness of discontinuities in the landscape with less combustible landuses.
It also functions as a fire-retardant technique and protection of wildland-urban interface (WUI).
This model is applied to municipalities from Portugal’s center region, a simplified landscape severely
damaged by recurrent rural fires. The results show that land-use and tree species composition should
change drastically, whereas about 72% of the case study needs transformation actions. This requires
a significant increase of native or archaeophytes species, agricultural areas, landscape discontinuities
and the restoration of biodiversity in Natura 2000 areas. The EN components are 79% of the FIRELAN
N area, whose implementation ensures soil and water conservation, biodiversity and habitats. This
paper contributes to the discussion of the Portuguese rural fires planning framework
Description
Keywords
fire prevention model rural sustainable landscape ecological network land-use planning resilient forest Portugal
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Magalhães, M.R.; Cunha, N.S.; Pena, S.B.; Müller, A. FIRELAN—An Ecologically Based Planning Model towards a Fire Resilient and Sustainable Landscape. A Case Study in Center Region of Portugal. Sustainability 2021, 13, 7055
Publisher
MDPI