Advancing Wildfire Management in Mediterranean: The TREEADS (H2020) project.

Wildfires are a natural, reoccurring phenomenon in Mediterranean forest ecosystems. The Mediterranean region has recently been experiencing wildfires of increased intensity and magnitude, due to the combined effect of increased temperatures, prolonged drought conditions, as well as human activities. Under those circumstances, wildfire management and firefighting activities face significant challenges. Local authorities and firefighting agencies have been working on enhancing their strategies, resources allocation, and coordination to effectively manage those fires. In this context, the TREEADS project funded by the EU Horizon 2020 Programme under the EU Green Deal call, adopts a holistic approach, proposing technological solutions that enhance our current abilities for the early detection of wildfires, as well as the timely response of the firefighting and fire management efforts. Under the project activities, those solutions are tested and validated on different pilot regions across Europe, tailored to the local stakeholder and community needs. Our pilot region, Samaria Gorge within the Samaria National Park, is one of the longest gorges in Europe and one of the most densely vegetated regions on the island of Crete, including extensive pine and cypress forests. In addition to highly flammable fuel, the Samaria gorge exhibits rough terrain and limited escape routes, posing a threat to its ~1000 daily visitors, in the case of a wildfire. This threat is intensified further as climate change unfolds in the region, bringing more frequent and prolonged heatwaves, combined with periods of prolonged drought. Our role is to coordinate and facilitate the communication among stakeholders and TREEADS technology partners, in order to test TREEADS technologies related to wildfire prevention and preparedness, and the timely detection, suppression, and evacuation of the Samaria gorge in the case that a wildfire event occurs.