19 Projects approved in the 1st Call of Forest Fires Research

The final list of projects approved in the 1st Call relative to the R&D Mobilizer Program for the prevention and combat of forest fires has been disclosed.

Nineteen applications were approved, with topics ranging from fire prevention to the rehabilitation of affected areas, including forecasting, communication, and aerial combat systems during the critical phases of the fire itself, and the health of the operatives fighting them. The 2nd edition of Call is currently open, and receives applications until February 26, 2019.

The R&D Mobilizer Program for the prevention and combat of forest fires was created by the Council of Ministers Resolution No. 159/2017, following the recommendations of the Independent Technical Commission report that investigated the Pedrógão Grande fires. This Call, which is organized by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), provides a financial envelope of 5 million euros and seeks to promote scientific research and innovation, strengthen scientific and technical skills, and the production of new knowledge.

The approved research projects are distributed across 10 scientific areas: Governance of forest resources; Fire management and extreme fire behavior; Attitudes and behaviors towards prevention and fire fighting and land management; Planning models and preventive forestry; Meteorology, forecasting and risk management; Sensing, information and emergency communications systems and their integration in decision-making processes; Management and valorisation of biomass in rural areas; Organization and management models of forest areas, in the areas of protection, conservation, silvopastoralism, recreation, leisure and production; Occupational health and safety of firefighting technicians; Post-fire restoration and forest management, in different spatial and temporal scales.