The Interreg Sudoe REMAS project "Greenhouse gas emissions risk management in forest fires' has held a working day. The aim is to consolidate a working group to address the inclusion of the risk of emissions in fire prevention strategies and plans. The intention is to contribute to minimising the emission of greenhouse gases produced by large fires and, consequently, their effects on climate change.

With these actions, REMAS addresses the cross-border risk of greenhouse gas emissions from forest fires in the SUDOE territory (Southwest Europe), whose forest ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

During the conference, the advances made at the regulatory level to include the risk of CO2 emissions in planning strategies and forest fire prevention plans were presented.

The director of the project, Rebeca Aleix, indicated that "the conference is an opportunity for public sector entities, professional associations and associations to work together in the management of the risk of emissions, a risk that affects all parties".

"In the Association of Forest Municipalities we are committed to tools that contribute to preserving our forests and to the structuring of the forestry sector", added the president of AMUFOR, Consuelo Alfonso, the organisation leading the project.

For his part, the vice-president of the provincial body and deputy for European Projects, Carlos Fernández Bielsa, was in charge of opening the conference, reaffirming the "support that the Provincial Council will continue to show for this type of idea. We will continue to collaborate with programmes such as REMAS because they are our roadmap, our work agenda to improve cities and towns, their natural landscapes, and our forest and ecological wealth".

The REMAS project is co-financed by the Interreg SUDOE programme through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). In the framework of transnational cooperation, REMAS (2019-2022) addresses the management of the risk of carbon emissions into the atmosphere contained in forest ecosystems due to forest fires, with a multidisciplinary and integrative character.

To this end, REMAS quantifies the carbon contained in forest ecosystems, both in vegetation and soil, to determine and map the risk of CO2 emissions following a forest fire and propose measures to prevent emissions and improve the capacity to accumulate carbon.