IMPACT OF FOREST FIRES ON PORTUGUESE FOREST ECOSYSTEM AND ITS NATIONAL EMISSIONS BUDGET
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59465/ijfr.2024.11.1.91-103Keywords:
GHG emission, carbon flux, forest fires, climate mitigation and adaptation, Mediterranean forestAbstract
The study highlights the significance of the forestry industry in Portugal, and delves into the economic, social, and environmental ramifications of forest fires on this vital sector. With a specialization in forest services, the country's healthy and sustained growth is heavily reliant on this sector. The study is a literature review analysis of carbon sink-source relationships and related uncertainty in the Portuguese forest ecosystem. We found wide literature research that Portugal lost 4% of its total tree cover due to forest fires in 2016-2017. The study concludes that the drought and forest fires suffered by the country throughout the years have had a considerable impact on the national emissions budget. Forest fires have wielded a significant impact on the nation's overall carbon emissions, representing 10% during the years with the highest incidence and averaging 2.7% over 25 years. Prior to 2014, the country was making significant progress towards achieving its National Plan on Climate Change (PNAC) 2020 reduction target, with emissions projected to fall between 18-23% below 2005 levels. These factors are putting country in a non-compliance position with the PNAC 2020 commitment target (which is the same target as for the Kyoto Protocol 2nd Commitment Period).
Downloads
References
Alencar, A., Asner, G.P., Knapp, D., & Zarin, D. (2011). Temporal variability of forest fires in eastern
Amazonia. Ecological Appllications. 21(7):2397-2412. https://doi.org/10.1890/10-1168.1
Anonymous. (2014). História da Floresta Portuguesa (History of the Portuguese Forest). Projeto Floresta Comum. Retrieved from http://www.florestacomum.org/floresta-autoctone/historia-da-floresta-portuguesa/ [accessed on 28.11.2017]
Anonymous. (2016a, December 28). Portugal is losing its natural forests at an alarming rate. Algarve Daily News. Retrieved from https://www.algarvedailynews.com/news/10703-portugal-is-losing-its-natural-forests-at-an-alarming-rate [accessed on 17.01.2018]
Anonymous. (2016b). Toda a Madeira é zona de risco (All Madeira is a risk zone). Retrieved from http://www.dnoticias.pt/impressa/hemeroteca/diario-de-noticias/549140-toda-a-madeira-e-zona-de-risco-MLDN549140 [accessed on 15.01.2018]
Anonymous. (2017, December 11). Enxurradas afetaram qualidade da água em Góis (Floods affected water quality in Góis). Jornal de Notícias. Retrieved from https://www.jn.pt/local/noticias/coimbra/gois/interior/mau-tempo-gois-admite-comprar-agua-fora-do-concelho-devido-a-enxurradas-8977828.html [accessed on 15.01.2018]
APA. (2017a). NOTA: Emissões de CO2 decorrentes dos incêndios em Portugal (NOTE: CO2 emissions from fires in Portugal). Portuguese Environmental Agency (APA). Retrieved from https://www.apambiente.pt/_zdata/Instrumentos/INERPA/20171103Incendios/171030NotaEmissoesCO2IncendiosAPA.pdf [accessed on 18.01.2018]
APA. (2017b). Portuguese National Inventory report on greenhouse gases, 1990 - 2015 Portuguese. Environmental Agency (APA). Retrieved from https://apambiente.pt/_zdata/inventario/2017/20170530/nirglobal20170526.pdf [accessed on 17.01.2018]
APA. (2022). Portuguese National Inventory Report on Greenhouse Gases, 1990 – 2020. Portuguese Environmental Agency (APA). Retrieved from https://apambiente.pt/sites/default/files/_Clima/Inventarios/20221025NIR2022JulyCorrigendum.pdf [accessed on 27.06.2023]
Assembleia da Républica. (2017). Análise e apuramento dos factos relativos aos incêndios que ocorreram em Pedrogão Grande, Castanheira de Pera, Ansião, Alvaiázere, Figueiró dos Vinhos, Arganil, Góis, Penela, Pampilhosa da Serra, Oleiros e Sertã (Analysis and investigation of the facts relating to the fires that occurred in Pedrogão Grande, Castanheira de Pera, Ansião, Alvaiázere, Figueiró dos Vinhos, Arganil, Góis, Penela, Pampilhosa da Serra, Oleiros and Sertã). Assembleia da Républica. Retrieved from https://dre.pt/home/-/dre/107669077/details/maximized [accessed on 23.07.2020]
BBC. (2019, August 21). Amazon fires increase by 84% in one year - space agency. BBC. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49415973 [accessed on 24.07.2020]
Meneses, B.M., Eusébio Reis, E., & Reis, R. (2018) Assessment of the recurrence interval of wildfires in mainland Portugal and the identification of affected LUC patterns, Journal of Maps, 14(2):282-292, Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17445647.2018.1454351
Caetano, M., Igreja, C., Marcelino, F., & Costa H. (2017). Estatísticas e dinâmicas territoriais multiescala de Portugal Continental 1995-2007-2010 com base na Carta de Uso e Ocupação do Solo (COS) (Multiscale territorial statistics and dynamics of mainland Portugal 1995-2007-2010 based on the Land Use and Occupancy Chart (COS) ). Relatório Técnico. Direção-Geral do Território (DGT). Retrieved from http://mapas.dgterritorio.pt/atom-dgt/pdf-cous/COS1995/Estudo_Dinamicas_Territoriais-COS.pdf [accessed on 03.08.2020]
Ciais, P., Sabine, C., Govindasamy B., et al. (2013). Carbon and Other Biogeochemical Cycles. In T., Stocker D., Qin & G.K., Platner (Eds.) Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Dlugokencky, E., & Tans, P. (2019). Trends in atmospheric carbon dioxide, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, Earth System Research Laboratory (NOAA/ESRL). Retrieved from http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/global.html [accessed on 22.07.2020]
EPA. (2012). The economic benefits of protecting healthy watersheds. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-10/documents/economic_benefits_factsheet3.pdf [accessed on 23.07.2020]
GFW. (2017). Portugal statistics. Retrieved from http://www.globalforestwatch.org/country/PRT [accessed on 15.01.2018]
GFW. (2023). Portugal statistics. Retrieved from http://www.globalforestwatch.org/country/PRT [accessed on 11.04.2023]
Goldammer, J.G. (2016). Fire Management in Tropical Forests. In L. Pancel & M. Köhl (Eds) Tropical Forestry Handbook. Springer. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54601-3_207
Houghton, R. A., & Nassikas, A. A. (2012). Global and Regional Fluxes of Carbon from Land Use and Land-Cover Change 1850-2015: Carbon emissions from land use. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. 31:456–472. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GB005546
ICNF. (2013a). IFN6–Áreas dos usos do solo e das espécies florestais de Portugal continental(IFN6–Areas of land use and forest species in mainland Portugal). Resultados preliminares. Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas. Lisboa. Retrieved from http://www2.icnf.pt/portal/florestas/ifn/resource/doc/ifn/ifn6-res-prelimv1-1 [accessed on 23.07.2020]
ICNF. (2013b). Espécies arbóreas indígenas em Portugal continental (Indigenous tree species in mainland Portugal). Guia de utilização. Retrieved from http://www.iniav.pt/fotos/editor2/icnf_spp_indigenas_v3.pdf [accessed on 23.07.2020]
ICNF. (2017). Importância Económica (Economic Importance). Retrieved from http://www.icnf.pt/portal/florestas/fileiras/econ#relatorio-sintese. [accessed on 15.01.2018]
Lopes, A. F., & Cunha-e-Sá, M.A. (2014). The economic value of Portuguese forests – the effect of tree species on valuation of forest ecosystems. Retrieved from https://editorialexpress.com/cgi-bin/conference/download.cgi?db_name=AERNA2014&paper_id=65 [accessed on 23.07.2020]
Nunes, L. J. R., Meireles, C. I. R., Gomes, C. J. P. , & Ribeiro, N. M. C. A. (2019). Socioeconomic aspects of the forests in Portugal: recent evolution and perspectives of sustainability of the resource. Forest. 10(5):361. https://doi.org/10.3390/f10050361
PEFC. (2017). Floresta Portuguesa (Portuguese Forest). Retrieved from https://www.pefc.pt/certificacao-gfs/introducao/floresta-portuguesa. [accessed on 15.01.2018]
Postel, S. L., & Thompson, B.H. (2005). Watershed protection: Capturing the benefits of nature’s water supply services. Natural Resources Forum, 29(2):98-108. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2005.00119.x
Público. (2017). Rica, versátil, generosa: eis a floresta portuguesa (Rich, versatile, generous: this is the Portuguese forest). Público. Retrieved from https://acervo.publico.pt/floresta-em-perigo/floresta [accessed on 17.01.2018]
Quéré, C. L., Andrew, R. M., Friedlingstein, P., et al. (2018). Global Carbon Budget 2017. Earth System Science Data. 10:405–448. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-405-2018
Ribeiro-Kumara, C., Köster, E., Aaltonen, H., & Köster, K. (2020). How do forest fires affect soil greenhouse gas emissions in upland boreal forests? A review. Environmental Research. 184:109328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.109328
Silva, C.V.J., Aragão, L.E.O.C., Barlow, J., et al. (2018). Drought-induced Amazonian wildfires instigate a decadal-scale disruption of forest carbon dynamics. Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society B. 373(1760):20180043. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0043
Tomas, C. (2017). Incêndio no douro internacional matou cria rara de abutre preto (Fire in the international douro kills rare black vulture calf). Expresso. Retrieved from http://expresso.sapo.pt/sociedade/2017-08-24-Incendio-no-Douro-Internacional-matou-cria-rara-de-abutre-preto [accessed on 16.01.2018]
Vieites-Blanco, C., & González-Prieto, S. J. (2020). Invasiveness, ecological impacts and control of acacias in southwestern Europe– a review. Web Ecology. 20(2):33–51. https://doi.org/10.5194/we-20-33-2020
Weisse, M., & Goldman, E.D. (2017). Global Tree Cover Loss Rose 51 Percent in 2016. World Resources Institute. Retrieved from http://www.wri.org/blog/2017/10/global-tree-cover-loss-rose-51-percent-2016 [accessed on 24.01.2018]
WMO. (2018). Drought and heat exacerbate wildfires. World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Retrieved from https://public.wmo.int/en/media/news/drought-and-heat-exacerbate-wildfires [accessed on 24.07.2020]
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Indonesian Journal of Forestry Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
All articles published in Indonesian Journal of Forestry Research (IJFR) are licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) with CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 being the latest version.
