Results

The PREVAIL project activities provide empirical knowledge, practical tools and analytical techniques to improve the effectiveness of the fire disaster management cycle (prevention-preparedness-response), in terms of cost optimization and large fire risk reduction. Key project exploitable results are:

Reports about the state of the art of past and current prevention measures and preparedness actions to counteract large fires.

These documents will contain the data collected in representative Mediterranean Countries with regards to (i) types and costs of forest fuel management treatments, (ii) amount of EU funds invested for fuel management and post-fire restoration actions; (iii) annual budget allocated in fire-fighting training; (iv) official costs by fire suppression agencies. These data will be the basis of an econometric analysis of fuel management and large fires suppression efficiency.

The organization of fuel management best practice workshop and training.

To facilitate information and experiences exchange among participants (land owners and agencies, regional/national authorities, and risk managers)

Evaluation of the effectiveness of fuel management on reducing the likelihood of large fires.

Data from a set of large fire case studies (including information on fuel landscape patterns, weather conditions, special fire-fighting difficulties) will be used to reconstruct fire behaviour of extremely large past fire events and to simulate what would have been the effect of fuel management treatments, implemented before fire onset, on the containing the risk of wildfires developing into large fires.

The development of a Decision Support System for effective fuel management under Open Data and open source technologies

It will be useful to plan smart solutions and optimize fuel treatments at the water catchment scale to increase the leverage and cost-effectiveness of fuel management treatments for a more efficient control of large wildfires. The DSS will help decision makers to promote the development of a local economy that ensures the maintenance of fuel treatments.

The technical report on best smart solutions of fire prevention programs implemented in EU.

The identification of fuel management best practices will improve the definition of time– and cost– effective operational practices in fire management and fire risk reduction.

The establishment and implementation of a Communication Strategy

To disseminate both the project’s initiative itself, and the exploitation of actual results by key target groups. A knowledge exchange platform related to the project website and dedicated to smart fuel management programs will be also created to this aim.

Deliverables timeline

Project deliverables can be downloaded clicking on the document code reported in the Deliverable timeline here after and in the dissemination section.