2026-04-13T02:20:02Zhttps://recercat.cat/oai/request

oai:recercat.cat:10459.1/4677112025-09-16T05:09:37Zcom_2072_3622col_2072_478537

Multi-scale governance analysis of Integrated Fire Management in Southeastern France Pereira KozlowskI, Milena Wildfire management Fire governance Governance Network Fire has long shaped Mediterranean landscapes, influencing both ecological and social processes in socio-ecological systems (SES), with many plant species having evolved to adapt to frequent fires. However, climate change has intensified uncontrolled extreme wildfires events, with significant human and ecological damage, challenging the adaptive capacities of species and human communities. This highlights the need for integrated fire management (IFM), combining fire suppression activities with prevention, recovery, and the restoration of historical fire regimes. Social processes, driven by decision-making and resource allocation, are key to implementing IFM. This study explores these social processes in the Occitanie region in Southeastern France, in a Mediterranean landscape, historically affected by wildfires. It examines the socio-ecological context, policy effectiveness, stakeholders’ relations and activities, and stakeholder valuation of ecosystem services (ES) before and after wildfires. This was done through semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and a network analysis. Results revealed that stakeholders view France’s fire suppression policies as effective, mainly by reduced burned area over time, despite increased wildfire risks from urbanization and fuel accumulation. Fuel management is the main strategy and is critical for reducing wildfire risk but faces challenges, including (1) insufficient enforcement of households’ vegetation clearings in wildland-urban interfaces (WUI); (2) fragmentation and ownership issues limiting the development of larger fuel breaks; (3) lack of economic interest for private forest management; and (4) socio-economical barriers to promoting grazing and prescribed fires for fuel management. Long-term wildfire management requires cultural shifts and collaboration, with potential strategies including awareness raising on households’ vegetation clearings, improving administrative coordination with private forest owners, promoting socio-ecological ES and grazing through economic mechanisms, and testing prescribed fires while educating decision-makers on their benefits. This study brings light to the current context of IFM in one region in Southeastern France, with information regarding socioecological and governance challenges as well as opportunities for IFM. 2024-10 info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis cc-by-nc-nd Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/