Forest fire research and innovation

Based on the findings of the review and the conclusions of a multi-stakeholder workshop, the Commission has developed a number of recommendations to improve forest fire management. Effective forest fire management and risk-informed policy making should follow an integrated fire management approach. Information on what research the EU is doing to prevent forest fires, review of EU funded projects, events and publications is available on the Forest fire research and innovation information portal.

Key recommendations for policy-makers:

• reinforce the EU’s disaster response capacity
• support proactive prevention operations
• improve coordination between EU and national policies across sectors
• integrate environmental policies with fire management strategies
• improve preparedness and engage with local communities   

EU funding for forest fire management:

The EU funds research on forest fires through its framework and other funding programmes. Over the past two decades, about 60 research projects received EU funding worth more than €100 million. These range from large and small-scale projects to Marie-Sklodowska Curie individual fellowships under Horizon 2020. These projects have stimulated advances in fire knowledge, operational management and decision-support mechanisms.