WG5: Socio-economic aspects of fire and fire risk management

WG5 Socio-economic aspects of fire and fire risk management will focus in socio-economic aspects related to fires including human ignitions, and effective management of fire-prone landscapes for risk reduction. Under the pressure of socio-economic large-scale land abandonment, afforestation and lack of forest management has caused forest to be more flammable (WG1). However, to make risk management viable from a socio-economic point of view, it needs to be incorporated into economic activities such as bioenergy, biomaterials or edible forest products. To achieve sustainability, ecosystem managers and stakeholders from all levels need to be involved. The main focus of this Working Group will be to communicate risk, find innovative ways to assess risk and assess the root causes of fires in all climatic zones of Europe. It is necessary to create awareness of different risk management approaches that can be economically sustainable.