FIRELinks – European cooperation for understanding fire

Fire has been part of the Earth System for the last 400 million years and humans are the sole species that controls and manages fire. We have used fire for over a million years, both, as hunter-gatherers to manage the landscape, and as farmers to maintain land productivity. Fire has undoubtedly been the most influential element in the development of human societies. Nevertheless, fire has always been a natural hazard, with socioeconomic changes and more recently climate change exasperating its frequency and impact.

The accumulated dry biomass can burn easily.

Wildfires are a common occurrence every summer and the risk of devastating fires does not only affect the southern EU countries. Fire also affects Alpine, Temperate, Boreal and Tundra ecosystems, with particularly notable 2010 fires around Moscow, which led to many smoke-related deaths, the 2014 fires in Sweden, their largest in recorded history, and even the unprecedented forest fires currently burning for over a month in the Arctic Circle. In Hungary, large wildfires are scarce, but small-scale fires occur almost every day in the spring and summer fire seasons. Due to expected further intensification and geographical spreading of wildfire regimes under Global Change there is an urgent societal need to connect research initiatives across Europe and boost scientists research, career and innovation in the field of fire.

Burning cork oak forest in Sicily.

In this context, the FIRElinks COST Action will develop the EU-spanning network of scientists and practitioners involved in forest fire research and land management and connect communities from different scientific and geographic backgrounds, allowing the discussion of different experiences and the emergence of new approaches to fire research. The main aim of FIRElinks is to power synergistic collaborations between European research groups and stakeholders with the objective to synthesise the existing knowledge and expertise, and to define a concerted research agenda which promotes an integrated approach to create fire-resilient landscapes, taking into account science, perception and policy constraints and opportunities.

COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a funding agency for research and innovation networks. COST creates spaces where scientists are in the driving seat (bottom-up) and ideas can grow through a flexible and open approach. By enabling researchers from academia, industry and the public and private sector to work together in open networks that transcend borders, COST helps to advance science, stimulates knowledge sharing and pools resources.

Orsolya Valkó (MTA-DE Lendület Seed Ecology Research Group) and Miklós Kertész (HAS Centre for Ecological Research) participates in the FIRElinks COST Action from Hungary. FIRElinks will have its First General Assembly & 2nd MC meeting in Sofia on the 8th and 9th of October 2019 where Action Chair Artemi Cerdà and Action Vice Chair Stefan Doerr will introduce Action Members to the FIRElinks mission and current research and developments in the field will be discussed. FIRElinks will be implemented for a period of four years and results will contribute to a better understanding of fire occurrence, dynamics and prevention, as well as its effects on the ecosystem and the society.

Resprouting vegetation in a recently burned wetland.