Fire Torch - A management approach to prescribed burning in the Mediterranean basin

Abstract : Fire Torch was conceived as an essential step to expand and consolidate the use of prescribed burning in Southern Europe. The project associates very tightly experimental and management burns, profiting from past experience and integrating all the available scientific and technical knowledge on prescribed fire. This presentation reviews the results of the project that are more closely related to the operational issues of prescribed burning, comprising the standardization of management data collection and storage, the assessment of the technique's efficiency as a fire hazard reduction tool, the development of a field guide, and the development of a training and decision support system.