On the Right Track?
Because of its geographic location, Italy can be regarded as an extension of the European continent that, through the Mediterranean, almost reaches the coast of Africa. Its position has always represented the point of contact between Europe, Africa and Asia. Extending from the Alps in the north to the large islands of Sicily and Sardinia, located just a few kilometers from the African coast, Italy has a climate and vegetation that are highly heterogeneous. The same diversity holds true for its topography. Only 23% of the land is flat, 40% is hilly and the remaining 37% is characterized by steep slopes and rapid changes in aspect. Most of the forest cover is concentrated in these areas, accounting for 35% of the territory.
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These variations make Italy vulnerable to forest fires during both summer and winter. The northern regions are predominantly characterized by a winter fire regime due to frequent extremely dry winds from the north, whereas the southern and central regions and the large islands are characterized by a severe summer fire regime because of the higher temperatures and prolonged lack of precipitation.
The threat of wildfires in Italy is not confined to wooded areas — agricultural areas and the urban-forest interface are in danger, too. Since the 1950s, the agricultural and rural areas have been gradually abandoned, especially where complex topography has made the mechanization of agriculture difficult. Many of these areas were transformed into timber yards after World War II, which lead to the spread of pioneer species that are highly vulnerable to fire such as Pinus pinaster and Pinus nigra.
Because of the frequent spread of fire, these areas are limited to the early succession stages consisting mainly of shrub vegetation — its survival in competition with the climax species being ensured by the spread of fire itself. Due to the frequency of fire ignition — almost entirely caused by humans — the time between fires in the same area is at least an order of magnitude less than the time that would allow the establishment of forest climax species that are far less vulnerable to fire.
The high frequency of man-made fires is primarily due to a higher population density than the European average. In fact, with an area of 300,000 square kilometers and a population that has long passed the 60 million mark, Italy is among the five countries with the highest population density in Europe. Considering the number of wildfires that have occurred since 1970, it can be noted that more than 9,000 wildfires burn an average of more than 1,000 square kilometers per year.
In the last decade, however, there has been a strong reduction in the number of fires and burned areas — a situation that is inconsistent with those who have announced an increase in the number of days characterized by conditions of extreme risk that should result in an increased number of wildfires and burned areas around the Mediterranean basin due to climate change.
What factors can be associated with this behavior? One component may be ascribed to climate change as stated by Flannigan et al. (2000) in their discussion about the correlation between rising temperatures and increased forest fire severity: "Increasing temperature alone does not necessarily guarantee greater fire disturbance." However, the effect of climate variability does not fully explain the negative trend, which should be attributed to increased monitoring and prevention activities and increasingly efficient fire suppression. A marked increase in prevention activities and a better organization of the forest fire service, along with an ever-increasing deployment of firefighters and vehicles, have led to a rapid change in the effects of wildfires throughout the country.
It should be emphasized, however, that the relatively high number of water bombers and the increased efficiency of fire extinguishing operations were not sufficient to contain the catastrophic effects of 2007, when the total burned area reached one of the highest values of the past 40 years, causing 11 casualties. Almost 50% of the total burned area was covered by fire in little more than one week. The regions of central and southern Italy were primarily affected by the phenomenon. During the same season, about one month after the events that devastated Italy and southeastern Europe, Greece experienced the death of 67 people, most of them civilians.
The 2007 summer season was characterized by extreme climatic conditions with prolonged periods of relative humidity below 30% and temperatures above 40
The events of 2007 further emphasized how forest fires not only damage forests, but can often turn into real civil protection emergencies, much like other natural hazards. Due to the ever-growing interface between rural and urban or recreational areas, the propagation of fire increasingly affects people, infrastructures and productive activities. During the July 24, 2007, Peschici Fire, thousands of tourists were rescued by boat while flames and smoke (blown by a strong wind) were moving rapidly toward the crowded beaches of the Gargano.
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