Fighting the flames: EU-funded projects protecting forests from fire destruction

The alarmingly high temperatures in recent years have led to unprecedented fires in some of the EU Mediterranean countries. The summer of 2023 saw the fourth most devastating wildfire season ever in the European Union, according to the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. 

With critical fires occurring in Spain, Portugal, Italy and especially Greece, the 2023 wildfire season resulted in over half a million hectares burnt in the EU, with 40 % of these fires occurring in Natura 2000 protected areas. 

Scientists argue this is only the beginning of what is to occur yearly, as global average temperatures continue to rise.

Preventing, not suppressing forest fires

Fire suppression efforts have shown their limits in extreme wildfire events. The European Commission’s new forest strategy seeks to move from simple fire suppression to effective prevention of wildfires. It is one of the flagship initiatives of the European Green Deal and builds on the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030. The forestry strategy consists of concrete actions to improve the quantity and quality of EU forests and strengthen their protection, restoration, and resilience. It aims to adapt Europe’s forests to the new conditions, weather extremes and high uncertainty brought about by climate change.

As exemplified in the following EU-funded projects managed by the European Research Executive Agency, the forest strategy focuses on the following: strategic forest monitoring, reporting and data collection, developing a research and innovation agenda on forestry knowledge, and implementing an inclusive EU forest governance framework.

EU-Australia wildfire cooperation

Every year in the EU and Australia, thousands of square miles of forests and other lands burn due to wildfires. Both EU and Australian governments are aware of how crucial it is to improve wildfires’ management and have come to together to work on the GEO SAFE project. 

The project aims at creating a network enabling the two continents to exchange knowledge, ideas, and experiences. Satellite and remote sensors data will expand the development of innovative methods and tools, enabling an integrated decision support system to maximise resources for efficiently dealing with future wildfires. The project has collected all their lessons on fire and made them available.

Find out more about GEO-SAFE

Crowdsourced data for managing forest fires

In order to support societies becoming more resilient when acting against forests fires, SAFERS developed a wildfire emergency management system. The platform uses observation data from Copernicus and GEOSS (Global Earth Observation Systems of Systems), fire sensors in forests, topographic data, weather forecasts and crowdsourced data from social media and other apps that can then be used by citizens and first responders to provide situational, in-field information. 

Find out more about SAFERS

Accelerating pan-European adaptation to extreme wildfire events

The FIRE-RES project builds upon its predecessor, the FirEUrisk project, and is designed to promote the implementation of a more holistic fire management approach. By integrating research, technology, civil protection, policy, and governance spheres related to wildfires, the project is working to generate new knowledge about sustainable fire management models.

Find out more about FIRE-RES

Advanced wildfire management system

The TREEADS project focuses on the forests at risk of wildfire, bringing together research institutes and companies from 14 EU countries and Taiwan. The project is using AI-based techniques to help fire prevention, suppression, and preparedness. It is setting up an integrated fire management platform covering all three stages of wildfires – before, during and after a blaze breaks out. 

Find out more about TREEADS

Further information:

EU Forest strategy 2030

Forest fire research and innovation

European Forest Fire Information System

Firing up to fight wildfires

To tackle wildfires, researchers in Europe team up with frontline forces

Nature: a key ally for cooler, sustainable and resilient cities 

*This article was updated on 23 July 2024 to include new data for forest fires in 2023 and current fires.