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1. Definition
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Name
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FOREST AND WILD FIRES
(Spanish NAP)
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Brief
definition
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Repeated
forest fires are the main cause of land degradation,
by vegetation cover removal.
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Unit
of measure
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%
of surface affected by fires in the last 10 years
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Spatial
scale
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Sub-regional
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Temporal scale
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Annual
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2.
Position within the logical framework DPSIR
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Type
of Indicator
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Pressure
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3.
Target and political pertinence
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Objective
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To
identify the areas in which the degradation process
will be more important. Prioritisation of mitigation
actions to combat desertification.
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Importance
with respect to desertification
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Environmental
effects of forest and wild fires:
- vegetation cover
elimination or degradation,
- vegetation vulnerability
to other damaging agents (pests, drought, wind,
etc.),
- increase in soil
erosion risk,
- decrease in water
quality.
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International
Conventions and agreements
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The
UNCCD states that long term loss of natural vegetation
is one of the main causes of land degradation. Repeated
forest fires cause long term loss of natural vegetation.
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Secondary
objectives of the indicator
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To
generate the map of % of surface affected by fires
in the last 10 years at sub-watershed scale (fire
intensity map).
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4.
Methodological description and basic definitions
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Definitions
and basic concepts
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Forest
fires are a natural phenomenon in the Mediterranean
region. Some vegetation species have developed mechanisms
to survive fire. Human activity (such as abandonment
of traditional management practices, rural depopulation,
urban sprawl and others socio-economic factors) has
instigated an important increase in the number of
fires and the area affected by them.
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Benchmarks
Indication of the values/ranges of value
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There
are four classes of % of accumulated area affected
by fires in the course of 10 years:
- more than 25 %
- from 10 to 25 %
- from 1 to 10 %
- less than 1 %
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Methods
of measurement
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Analysing
the forest fires statistics recorded by the DGCN during
several years.
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Limits
of the indicator
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The
precision of the forest fire data sets.
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Linkages with other
indicators
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Vegetation
cover, Vegetation degradation, Deforested
area, Forest productivity,
Erosion protection, Infiltration
capacity, Water quality.
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5.
Evaluation of data needs and availability
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Data
required to calculate the indicator
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The
forest and wild fires detailed database and statistics
kept by DGONA since 1975.
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Data
sources
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Data
banks. Remote sensing Images.
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Availability of data
from national and international sources
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Dirección General de
Conservación de la Naturaleza (DGCN), Secretaría General
de Medio Ambiente, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Spain.
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6.
Institutions that have participated in developing the indicator
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Main
institutions responsible
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Dirección
General de Conservación de la Naturaleza (DGCN), Secretaría
General de Medio Ambiente, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente,
Spain.
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Other
contributing organizations
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7.
Additional information
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Bibliography
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Programa
de Acción Nacional contra la Desertificación (DGCN,
Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Spain).
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Other
references
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Desertification
Indicators for the European Mediterranean Region (Enne,
G. and Zucca,C. 2000).
Forest
fires statistics (DGCN, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente,
Spain).
Estrategia
Forestal Española (DGCN, Secretaría General de Medio
Ambiente, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Spain, 2000).
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Contacts
Name and address
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Leopoldo
Rojo Serrano <LRojo@mma.es>
Dirección General de Conservación de la Naturaleza
Ministerio de Medio Ambiente
Gran Vía de San Francisco 4
28005 Madrid (Spain)
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