BibTex format
@article{Harrison:2026,
author = {Harrison, SP and Prentice, IC and Ascoli, D and Biffis, E and Greenhalgh, S and Grillakis, M and Haas, O and Kountouris, Y and O'Kelley, RM and Fernandes, PM and Menor, IO and Xanthopoulos, G and Voulgarakis, A},
journal = {Frontiers in Environmental Science},
title = {Land management to mitigate the risks of future fire in the Mediterranean region: strategies and barriers to their adoption},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/environmental-science/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2026.1867890/abstract},
year = {2026}
}
RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)
TY - JOUR
AB - Extreme wildfires are becoming more frequent in the Mediterranean region and already frequently exceed controllable thresholds, leading to large impacts on natural and social systems. Wildfire risk is predicted to increase in the region over the 21st century because of ongoing global climate changes. The risk of wildfires is being exacerbated by rural land abandonment, which is promoting increased landscape flammability; and by expansion of the wildland-urban interface. To address the challenges arising from fire regime changes, there is an urgent need to improve existing management strategies to reduce fire risk and to minimise the occurrence of extreme wildfires. Doing so successfully requires integrating insights across varied wildfire management paradigms, that stem from diverse disciplinary traditions and often serve competing policy priorities. Here we review the state of knowledge and practice on wildfire management in the Mediterranean region. We begin by highlighting the diversity of land management practices that deliberately or indirectly have been used for fire risk mitigation, shaping contemporary Mediterranean landscapes and fire regimes. We then summarise the evolution of policy priorities and fire management practices, and how these changes in infrastructural, economic and legal frameworks could influence landscape vulnerability to wildfire. We also examine some of the barriers that work against the adoption of management strategies to minimise wildfire risk at local and national levels. The paper brings together ecological, land-management, governance, planning and economic perspectives that are often treated separately, in order to clarify where current wildfire risk reduction strategies are supported by evidence and where important barriers remain. Finally, we integrate these different insights to identify key knowledge gaps and make recommendations for future action.
AU - Harrison,SP
AU - Prentice,IC
AU - Ascoli,D
AU - Biffis,E
AU - Greenhalgh,S
AU - Grillakis,M
AU - Haas,O
AU - Kountouris,Y
AU - O'Kelley,RM
AU - Fernandes,PM
AU - Menor,IO
AU - Xanthopoulos,G
AU - Voulgarakis,A
PY - 2026///
SN - 2296-665X
TI - Land management to mitigate the risks of future fire in the Mediterranean region: strategies and barriers to their adoption
T2 - Frontiers in Environmental Science
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/environmental-science/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2026.1867890/abstract
ER -