Create a crop belt around the city as an anti-fire measure. A study by the Center for Ecological Research and Forest Applications (CREAF) published this Thursday points out that this agricultural perimeter (with pastures and fields) “could reduce fire connectivity by 30% in the event of a fire” and thus stop the flames that They could approach homes in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area.
The bet is to recover some 17,000 hectares of crops and pastures from the 1950s, which were abandoned, and take advantage of the spaces that are appearing in forests that have suffered a serious drought or those that will suffer one in the near future, according to the research. .
The fires in Los Angeles (USA), according to experts, combine a severe drought, high wind speed and lack of open spaces in the forest. A formula that has facilitated the spread of the flames “and that can be transferred to other areas of Spain in general or Catalonia in particular,” the Center analyzes.
The crop areas near the nuclei are the ones that best break the connectivity of the fire and act as a belt that best protects the urban area
Rodrigo Balaguer-Romano
— CREAF researcher
CREAF’s work argues that “breaking the connectivity of the forest by adding open spaces such as crops is very necessary,” to prevent fire from traveling from the trees to the houses. “The cropped areas near the nuclei are the ones that best break the connectivity of the fire and act as a belt that best protects the urban area,” comments one of the researchers, Rodrigo Balaguer-Romano.
Furthermore, this strategy would add an addition of biodiversity associated with these agricultural landscapes typical of the Mediterranean area. “Birds like the great bustard and pollinators like bees and butterflies, for example” benefit from these spaces, illustrates another of the scientists involved in the study. Josep María Espelta.
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