Wildland-urban interface dynamics during the last 50 years in North East Sardinia

The Mediterranean basin ecosystems are extremely sensitive and vulnerable due to the specific characteristics of the Mediterranean climate (climate variability, drought, etc.), and the large effects of different anthropogenic disturbances (modifications of land use, deforestation, grazing, forest fires, etc.). In the last three decades, forest fires showed an increase in both occurrence and number of extreme fire seasons; in addition, an increasing number of fires threatening the wildland-urban interface (WUI) can be observed. In Sardinia, the WUI is not a new feature in the landscape but, in the last decades, the areas that can be defined as classic and mixed interfaces are increasing. This phenomenon is particularly evident in tourist and coastal areas where a large number of resorts are built within and surrounded by Mediterranean vegetation that is highly prone to events of wildfire. In these situations, the related risk of damage for villages, tourist resorts, other human activities and people is elevated especially in summer when the presence of human people is highest and meteorological conditions are extreme. Therefore, the development of planning policies is required in order to implement strategies to prevent and reduce wildfire in wildland-urban interface areas. The main aims of this work are i) to assess recent changes and characteristics of wildland-urban interface in a touristic area of North East Sardinia and ii) to evaluate changes in term of fire risk due to land use change during the last five decades. The study was carried out in a coastal area located in North East Sardinia and characterized by strong touristic development in the last thirty years. The characterization and mapping of the WUI were performed starting from 1954 to 2008 using temporal steps of about 10 years. For each temporal step, WUI areas were identified, classified and mapped in order to analyze and evaluate the temporal evolution of their presence and properties. Fire history data relative to study area were also collected and relationships between fire regime and WUI area trends were analyzed. This work is supported by FUME Project- Forest fires under climate, social and economic changes in Europe, the Mediterranean and other fire-affected areas of the world- European Commission FP7-ENV-2009-1, Grant Agreement Number 243888.