Focal Area

Wildfires

Wildfires are increasingly recognized as a pan-European concern.

Wildfires are increasingly recognized as a pan-European concern. Once considered a predominantly southern issue, recent years have seen a rise in both frequency and intensity of fire events in Central and Northern Europe, including regions previously thought to be low risk. This shift is driven by climate change, prolonged droughts, and changing land-use patterns, which have created conditions for more intense and larger burns1. These evolving patterns highlight the need for coordinated strategies, shared expertise, and cross-border collaboration to address wildfire risks effectively across pan-Europe.

Challenges in facing wildfires across Pan-Europe

As intense wildfires become more frequent across pan-Europe, the challenges associated with managing them have grown significantly, both in scale and complexity.

Limited investment in long-term prevention and preparedness has left many regions vulnerable to large-scale fire events. Fire suppression capacities are often stretched, particularly during prolonged fire seasons or when multiple regions face simultaneous outbreaks. This has prompted growing recognition across both scientific and policy communities for the demand for more integrated, anticipatory, cross-border approaches to wildfire management1.

A clear paradigm shift is underway: moving away from reactive suppression toward proactive, landscape-level prevention. This shift calls not only for new strategies but also for sustained funding and institutional support to build long-term resilience. Strengthening coordination mechanisms and enhancing knowledge exchange across regions with varying levels of fire experience are central to this evolving approach.

1 JRC Publications Repository – Pan-European wildfire risk assessment

  • seaplane on fire
  • Fire in the forest
Carmen Rodríguez

Expert insight

Carmen Rodríguez

Carmen Rodríguez, a forest engineer and wildfire researcher, brings a deeply territorial and human perspective to wildfire risk. Her work bridges technical forestry and social science, revealing that wildfires are not merely ecological disturbances, they are complex social-ecological phenomena, shaped by how we live, manage land, and interact with rural landscapes.

“Wildfires are no more and no less than the product of how we live,” Carmen explains. “If we disincentivize small-scale farming and extensive grazing, if people mostly live in cities… then our land becomes increasingly dry, biodiversity decreases, and more and increase the risk of wildfires.”

Her connection to Mediterranean Europe is both scientific and personal. In fire-prone regions like hers, vegetation has evolved with fire, cork oaks with thick bark, pines with serotinous cones. But beyond biology, fire is part of the ancestral and cultural identity of the territory.

Carmen’s insights reinforce the need for territorial resilience and adaptive strategies that are not just ecological, but operational and institutional. Her emphasis on understanding fire within the broader system of land and forest management aligns with FoRISK’s commitment to equipping practitioners with the tools, knowledge, and expert networks needed to respond effectively to wildfires across pan-Europe.

FoRISK’s Role in Shaping Future Wildfire Resilience

As wildfire patterns continue to evolve across pan-Europe, recent reports and expert networks emphasize the need for more proactive, integrated approaches to wildfire management.


FoRISK is actively responding to this challenge by fostering a pan-European network of policy makers and experts. Its approach promotes a modern understanding of professionalism in forestry, one that values collaboration, rapid support, capacity building, and knowledge exchange. By enabling regions to tap into specialized knowledge and respond more effectively to emerging threats, FoRISK helps build long-term resilience across diverse forest landscapes.


FoRISK is helping shape a future where pan-European forests are not only fire-aware, but fire-resilient.

Fire and smoke in the forest

Key actions supported by FoRISK include:

Icon firefighter
Expert exchange and cross-border collaboration:

Facilitating the mobility of wildfire specialists across regions helps transfer knowledge, build capacity, and support newly affected areas with tailored expertise.

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Capacity building and “train-the-trainer” programs:

Strengthening local expertise and preparedness is essential, especially in regions with limited historical fire experience.

Icon science-based publications and tools
Accessible, science-based publications and tools:

Decision-makers and practitioners benefit from clear, evidence-based guidance to inform planning, response, and policy development.

Windstorms can significantly intensify wildfires through several mechanisms:

  • Access Barriers and Response Delay: Severe windstorms can block roads and damage infrastructure, delaying firefighting response times. Fallen trees and debris can hinder access to fire-prone areas, allowing fires to grow unchecked in the critical early stages.
  • Deadwood and Stressed Trees: Windstorms can dramatically increase the amount of deadwood and physically stressed trees in forested areas. While deadwood plays an important ecological role by enriching soils, supporting biodiversity, and contributing to nutrient cycling. It’s contribution to wildfire risk depends on type, condition, location, and timing. Certain forms of deadwood (e.g. dry, fine fuels in dense clusters) can act as ignition sources and accelerate fire spread, whereas others may have limited flammability or even buffer fire movement. Careful assessment is needed to determine whether deadwood increases or mitigates fire risk in each context[1].
  • Wind-Driven Fire Spread: Strong winds play a critical role in wildfire behaviour by feeding fires with oxygen, accelerating combustion, and transporting embers across long distances. These embers can ignite new spot fires far from the original blaze, leading to rapid expansion and highly unpredictable fire dynamics that challenge containment effort[2].
  • Canopy Disruption: Windstorms often tear apart forest canopies, exposing the understory to direct sunlight and drying out vegetation more rapidly. This reduction in moisture content makes the forest floor more susceptible to ignition and allows fires to spread more easily through lower vegetation layers[3].

[1] How deadfall from windstorms can affect wildfire behaviour.

[2] What causes the powerful winds that fuel dust storms, wildfires and blizzards? | Texas A&M University College of Arts and Sciences.

[3] Interactions between wind and fire disturbance in forests_ Competing amplifying and buffering effects

Wildfires

Wildfires Intersectional

Biotic agents such as insect pests and pathogens interact dynamically with wildfire behaviour and forest fire dynamics:

  • Vegetation Mortality and Fuel Continuity:
    Insect pests and pathogens can cause widespread tree mortality and canopy thinning, leaving behind large amounts of dry, dead biomass. This not only increases surface and canopy fuel loads but also alters light and moisture conditions in the understory. The resulting environment promotes the growth of flammable grasses and shrubs, creating a more continuous and connected fuel layer. Together, these changes significantly heighten the risk of intense and fast-spreading wildfires[1].
  • Disturbance Synergy:
    The interaction between biotic disturbances and fire is often synergistic. For example, forests affected by bark beetle epidemics may experience more severe fires, due to increased fuel loads from dead trees, retained dry needles that elevate crown fire risk, and canopy openings that dry out surface fuels. These conditions make forests more flammable and harder to manage. In turn, severe fires can create stress conditions that favour further pest outbreaks. These feedback loops are becoming more frequent under climate change, which intensifies both pest activity and fire regimes[2].
  • Pathogen-Fire Buffering:
    In certain European forest ecosystems, wildfires can help reduce the impact of forest pathogens by altering environmental conditions that suppress disease spread. For example, fire may destroy infected host trees, reduce pathogen inoculum in the soil, and modify microclimates in ways that are less favourable for pathogen survival and transmission.

[1] Fire and Insect Interactions in North American Forests.

[2] Global review on interactions between insect pests and other forest disturbances | Landscape Ecology

Wildfires

Wildfires Intersectional

Windstorms can significantly intensify wildfires through several mechanisms:

  • Deadfall: the accumulation of fallen trees, branches, and other vegetation. While deadfall plays an important ecological role by enriching forest soils and providing habitat, windstorms can dramatically increase its volume. This excess debris becomes highly flammable, acting as ideal fuel and ignition material for wildfires, thereby accelerating their spread and intensity[1].
  • Wind-Driven Fire Spread: Strong winds play a critical role in wildfire behaviour by feeding fires with oxygen, accelerating combustion, and transporting embers across long distances. These embers can ignite new spot fires far from the original blaze, leading to rapid expansion and highly unpredictable fire dynamics that challenge containment efforts[2].
  • Canopy Disruption: Windstorms often tear apart forest canopies, exposing the understory to direct sunlight and drying out vegetation more rapidly. This reduction in moisture content makes the forest floor more susceptible to ignition and allows fires to spread more easily through lower vegetation layers[3].
  • Access Barriers and Response Delay: Severe windstorms can block roads and damage infrastructure, delaying firefighting response times. Fallen trees and debris can hinder access to fire-prone areas, allowing fires to grow unchecked in the critical early stages.

[1] How deadfall from windstorms can affect wildfire behaviour.

[2] What causes the powerful winds that fuel dust storms, wildfires and blizzards? | Texas A&M University College of Arts and Sciences.

[3] Interactions between wind and fire disturbance in forests_ Competing amplifying and buffering effects

Biotic agents such as insect pests and pathogens interact dynamically with wildfire behaviour and forest fire dynamics:

  • Biotic agents such as insect pests and pathogens interact dynamically with wildfire behaviour and forest fire dynamics.
  • Fuel Load Amplification:
    Insect outbreaks such as bark beetles and defoliators can cause widespread tree mortality, leaving behind large quantities of dry, dead biomass. This deadwood increases surface and canopy fuel loads, making forests more prone to intense and fast-spreading wildfires. The timing and severity of outbreaks play a critical role in determining whether they amplify or dampen fire behavior[1].
  • Canopy Structure Alteration:
    Pathogens and pests can thin forest canopies by killing host trees, which alters light and moisture conditions in the understory. This can lead to increased growth of flammable grasses and shrubs, creating a more continuous fuel layer that facilitates fire spread[2].
  • Disturbance Synergy:
    The interaction between biotic disturbances and fire is often synergistic. For example, forests affected by bark beetle epidemics may experience more severe fires, which in turn can create conditions favorable for further pest outbreaks. These feedback loops are becoming more frequent under climate change, which intensifies both pest activity and fire regimes5.
  • Pathogen-Fire Buffering:
    In some cases, wildfires can reduce the impact of forest diseases. For instance, fire may destroy infected host trees or alter microclimates in ways that suppress pathogen survival and transmission. A study on Phytophthora ramorum (sudden oak death) found that recently burned areas had lower disease reinvasion and host mortality rates5.

[1] Fire and Insect Interactions in North American Forests.

[2] Global review on interactions between insect pests and other forest disturbances | Landscape Ecology