Results of the 3rd Call for Projects to Prevent and Fight Forest Fires

FCT has released the results of the 3rd edition of the Call for Scientific Research and Technological Development Projects in the field of Forest Fire Prevention and Combat, which was launched in December 2019 and whose evaluation concluded with the selection of 19 projects for funding, out of 81 applications evaluated. The projects to be funded correspond to a total investment of 5 million euros.

The aim of these projects is to promote scientific research and innovation, producing new knowledge and strengthening technical skills in different areas that are important for preventing and fighting rural fires, from a multidisciplinary perspective, and incorporating a component of dissemination and application of the results obtained.

The 19 projects selected cover the following research areas:

- Attitudes and behavior towards fire prevention, firefighting and land management - 3 projects;

- Governance of forest resources - 3 projects;

- Management and valorization of biomass in rural areas - 4 projects;

- Models for the organization and management of forest areas - 1 project;

- Management models and preventive forestry - 2 projects;

- Meteorology, forecasting and risk management - 3 projects;

- Post-fire restoration and forest management - 1 project;

- Occupational health and safety of combat technicians - 2 projects.

This Call concludes the 3rd edition of project funding aimed at preventing and fighting forest fires, promoted by the FCT and with a total budget allocation of 15 million euros. This programme is part of the set of structural, organizational and operational measures to improve the prevention and combating of rural fires, established in Council of Ministers Resolution 159/2017 of October 30, resulting from the analysis of the Independent Technical Commission (CTI), made up of national and foreign experts, which analysed the fires that occurred in 2017, in which there was a dramatic loss of human life and a high level of destruction of material and environmental goods.

In the first two editions of the Call, held in 2017 and 2018, 37 research projects were approved, in various scientific areas, for a total amount of 10 million euros. These first projects were presented at the meeting "Rural Fires: Better management based on scientific evidence", held in November last year, jointly organized by FCT, ForestWISE - Collaborative Laboratory for Integrated Forest and Fire Management and the Agency for Integrated Rural Fire Management (AGIF). The titles, lead researcher, participating entities and project summaries are gathered in a brochure produced by the FCT.

More information on the Call page