Reacción a " The Ministry of Interior has declared a state of emergency of national interest in the Community of Madrid and the province of Ávila due to three forest fires"

What is the cause of the intensity of these three fires?

"The intensity of the fires is due to extreme weather conditions, with high temperatures and strong winds, combined with the presence of dense and very dry (highly flammable) vegetation. Furthermore, as last year was very wet, this has led to a greater accumulation of vegetation compared with drier years. Climate change is intensifying these conditions and contributing to the occurrence of large and severe fires, particularly in the world’s temperate biomes, such as the Mediterranean.”

What role does the type of vegetation in these areas play?

“Climate change alone does not cause these extreme fires; rather, it interacts with the presence of dense, continuous fuel in the landscape, creating a very dangerous combination. In the affected areas, there is an abundance of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster), which is a highly flammable species. In the past, numerous reforestation schemes involving these pines were carried out across the entire peninsula, even in areas where they did not occur naturally (for example, on heathland). Furthermore, there is rural abandonment, which encourages scrub encroachment and the loss of mosaic landscapes (where natural areas are combined with cropland, grazing land, etc.). Consequently, in recent decades, the flammability of the landscape in Spain has increased and, combined with climate change, this heightens the risk of major fires".

These fires are affecting the urban-forest interface. How can homes and the surrounding environment be protected?

“Given that we cannot change the climate in the short term, the most important thing is to focus on prevention through fuel management in the landscape and sound land-use planning. In other words, fuel management must be a priority in these areas, but, in addition, the construction of homes in non-urban areas must be restricted, in accordance with land-use plans.”

What can be done to prevent the flames from causing so much damage?

“We must act at different spatial scales. On the one hand, we need to plan the land so that we have greater heterogeneity in land use (a mosaic landscape), as this helps to slow the fire down when it encounters areas with sparse vegetation. To achieve this, we must promote rural activities such as sustainable grazing. On the other hand, we must prioritise fuel management in urban-forest interface zones and in very dense forest plantations. And, of course, we must continue to tackle the climate emergency by limiting carbon emissions and conserving the ecosystems that sequester carbon.”