Risk of forest fires north of the Alps: Awareness and communication

As the climate warms, the risks of human-induced forest fires are increasing on the northern side of the Alps – whether due to leisure activities like outdoor barbecues or due to fires for burning tree and plant cuttings in agriculture and forestry. Meanwhile, because there have been very few major fires to date, people living in the area lack an established “culture” for dealing with the risk of forest and field fires. This situation increasingly calls for targeted prevention through awareness-raising and communication.

Goals and concrete benefits

The current project addresses this challenge. Its goal is to identify the risk awareness and behaviour of various stakeholders in the canton of Bern and to derive recommendations for the organization, awareness-raising, and guidance of different target groups with regard to the responsible use of fire. Based on these recommendations, target-group-specific communication and awareness measures will be developed in selected test regions together with stakeholders. The aim is to promote behavioural changes regarding forest fire risks and thereby help to prevent such fires, particularly in the canton of Bern.

The project results can also contribute to suitable communication strategies for other natural hazards. Moreover, they can be of use to other cantons north of the Alps.

Target groups and focus regions

The project is aimed at all users of forests in the canton of Bern. While these include the agriculture and forestry sectors, the focus is especially on the general population and international tourists who use the forests for recreation. The intention is to sensitize these users to the risk of forest fires on the northern side of the Alps, enabling them to correctly interpret and properly react to hazard warnings.

The project focuses on known hotspots of forest fire risk in the canton of Bern: the foot of the southern Jura range and the southern slopes in the Bernese Oberland.

Project implementation and cooperation

The project is being implemented as a module within the project “Forest Fire Risk on the Northern Side of the Alps” of the Wyss Academy for Nature at the University of Bern, in close cooperation with the Forestry and Natural Hazards Office of the Canton of Bern.

The project is divided into two phases (2021–2024, 2025–2028). The first phase saw the development of the scientific foundations, with key implementation actors integrated into the project. This ensured that the scientific results (see also Publications) are useful in practice.

The second phase will take place in two to three test regions and will involve close cooperation with local authorities. During this phase, the project team and participants will:

• analyse the forest fire prevention situation,
• jointly develop and design awareness-raising measures,
• implement these measures through local actors,
• and, finally, evaluate the effects of the measures on fire behaviour, extract lessons learned, and further develop prototypes for wider application.

Other modules on “Forest Fire Management on the Northern Side of the Alps” deal with forest characteristics as well as the impact of forest governance, risk assessment, and risk classifications that consider the parameters of weather, soil, topography, forest composition, and forest use. These modules are affiliated with other institutes and organizations.