Crossing the crossroad: challenges for the implementation of a collaborative wildfire management program in Portugal.

Abstract

Wildfires represent the main natural risk in Portugal. Since 2003 the territory has been affected by extreme wildfires which have consumed more than 1.2 million ha. Following those events, several modifications were introduced in wildfire policies to preserve forest and increase the resilience of communities facing wildfires. These modifications suggest that the wildfire management strategies in Portugal are changing from a response based paradigm (wildfire combat capability) to a paradigm based on prevention and community collaboration. The goal of this paper is to identify this set of transformations, analysing the main features of the wildfire management program between 2003-2013 and the challenges for the implementation of a collaborative wildfire management framework. Wildfire policies and legislation created since 2003 were collected and submitted to content analyses to identify the main resolutions and strategies for wildfire management and to explore the extent of community involvement and participation. Results suggest that since 2003 many changes were implemented in the system, setting a positive context for wildfire prevention. But these measures still reveal a low potential for community participation and empowerment towards wildfire risk. New models of risk communication and information sharing with communities that increase their involvement in the decision process are needed.