Forgetting fire: Traditional fire knowledge in two chestnut forest ecosystems of the Iberian Peninsula and its implications for European fire management policy

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Francisco Seijo
  • J.D.A. Millington
  • Rob Gray
  • Veronica Sanz
  • Jorge Lozano Mendoza
  • Federico García-Serrano
  • Gabriel Sangüesa-Barreda
  • J. Julio Camarero

Human beings have used fire as an ecosystem management tool for thousands of years. In the context of the scientific and policy debate surrounding potential climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, the importance of the impact of relatively recent state fire-exclusion policies on fire regimes has been debated. To provide empirical evidence to this ongoing debate we examine the impacts of state fire-exclusion policies in the chestnut forest ecosystems of two geographically neighbouring municipalities in central Spain, Casillas and Rozas de Puerto Real. Extending the concept of 'Traditional Ecological Knowledge' to include the use of fire as a management tool as 'Traditional Fire Knowledge' (TFK), we take a mixed-methods and interdisciplinary approach to argue that currently observed differences between the municipalities are useful for considering the characteristics of "pre-industrial anthropogenic fire regimes" and their impact on chestnut forest ecosystems. We do this by examining how responses from interviews and questionnaire surveys of local inhabitants about TFK in the past and present correspond to the current biophysical landscape state and recent fire activity (based on data from dendrochronological analysis, aerial photography and official fire statistics). We then discuss the broader implications of TFK decline for future fire management policies across Europe particularly in light of the published results of the EU sponsored Fire Paradox research project. In locations where TFK-based "pre-industrial anthropogenic fire regimes" still exist, ecosystem management strategies for adaptation and mitigation to climate change could be conceivably implemented at a minimal economic and political cost to the state by local communities that have both the TFK and the adequate social, economic and cultural incentives to use it.

Original languageEnglish
JournalLand Use Policy
Volume47
Pages (from-to)130-144
Number of pages15
ISSN0264-8377
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.09.2015

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.

    Research areas

  • Chestnut forest ecosystems, Fire exclusion policies, Fire paradox, Traditional ecological knowledge, Traditional fire knowledge, adaptive management, climate change, ecosystem management, fire management, forest ecosystem, forest fire, forestry policy, mitigation, traditional knowledge, Iberian Peninsula, Spain
  • Sustainability Science

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