Democratizing decision-making on wildfires and adapting to climate change in the Montseny biosphere reserve

Abstract

In recent decades, Catalonia has re-shaped its wildfire management system in order to deal with large wildfires. Moreover, experts have pointed to the need for deeper changes in the host of decisions that determine risk. Embedded in these efforts, this paper presents a method to democratize decision-making on wildfires and to find out how to transform a landscape to build resilience in a context of climate change. The study region is the Montseny Biosphere Reserve. Our method combines knowledge on wildfire regime, participatory mapping of landscape values, multi-criteria prioritization, and preparation of a wildfire management strategy that protects priority areas. Results show a large amount and diversity of values at stake (biodiversity, socioeconomic activities, heritage, leisure). A selection of areas where management could reduce wildfire impacts on these values is proposed. Based on discussions held with stakeholders throughout the project, the paper also points to some elements that are needed in order to manage these areas: sufficient budget, institutional reforms and change in the socioeconomic model. While the first one seems relatively feasible (as long as the authorities prioritize risk reduction on a biosphere reserve scale), the other two point to a deeper social-ecological transformation for which new efforts of research and action seem to be required.

Keywords: wildfire, risk, climate change, prevention, participation, social values, landscape management, Montseny.