Using stakeholder-developed forest management maps to model fire reduction treatment effects on forest fire

Over the past century, severe wildfire events have been recorded globally due to climate change. Changes in climatic conditions may change forest landscape by modifying rates of vegetation formation, shifts in temperature and tree species shift. There was a near-complete loss of native tree species in some affected areas and loss of these species were most strongly linked to burn frequency. Many questions remain regarding how these changes will occur across landscapes and how disturbances such as wildfires may interact with changes to climate and vegetation. Forest management is used to proactively modify forest structure and composition to improve fire resilience. Yet, research is needed to assess how to best utilize the resources to reduce damages due to forest fires. Human communities also exist within these landscapes, and decision regarding how to manage forests must carefully consider how management will affect such communities.

The scientific literature recognizes the importance of incorporating stakeholders' knowledge and the active role of local communities to enhance and strengthen adaptive capacities to fire risk management. However, the research in this area seems to be still at the initial stage, and this gap needs to be addressed through actions that value the knowledge and voices of stakeholders and local communities. This research aims to contribute to this gap by sharing the process with the application of participatory mapping GIS involving forest stakeholders in a forest fire risk area in Liguria, Italy. To investigate local community preferences for forest management, public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS) mapping exercise is a good tool for local residents to express their views on fire reduction treatments (for example, commercial harvest, non-commercial harvest and prescribed fire). Emergent themes from the mapping exercise can be used to inform alternative management scenarios to explore the usefulness of using PPGIS to generate modelling inputs. Scenarios will be ranged from restoration-only treatments to short-rotation commercial harvest. The use of PPGIS is useful for outlining the range of forest management preferences within the local community, for identifying areas of agreement among residents who have otherwise polarized views, and for generating modelling inputs that reflect views that may not be obtained through existing official channels for public participation. Involving forest stakeholders in the decision-making process may increase public acceptance of the forest fire treatments needed to modify wildfire trajectories under future climate conditions and to improve forest resilience.