How to define the wildland-urban interface? Methods and limitations: towards a unified protocol

Abstract

In recent decades, the risk of Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fires has increaseddue to urban growth, particularly in regions with a Mediterranean climate. Theidentification of the WUI is crucial for formulating fire prevention andmanagement measures. However, there is no unified methodology fordefining the WUI and it is not clear if proposals that emerge from scientificresearch are implemented by fire management agencies. Our objectives were toidentify, describe, and compare the methods and criteria used by land and firemanagement agencies to define the WUI in Mediterranean-climate countries. Weconducted a review of laws and fire prevention and management plans andprotocols on the official websites of administrative bodies and agencies of theUSA, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Greece, South Africa, Australia, Chile, andArgentina. Each document was read and analyzed and we conducted searchesfor the terminology used to name the WUI, the methodology and criteria used fordefining the WUI, the fire prevention and management actions implemented inthe WUI, the level of territorial organization and the responsible agencies forimplementing the actions, and the presence of a methodology and a map atnational scale. We found no consensus on the terminology for the WUI, the mostcommon terms used being: wildland-urban interface, urban-rural interface, andurban-forest interface. With the exception of the USA and Portugal, there is nounified methodology at the national scale. We identified three general methodsfor defining the WUI: considering buffer distance for urban and vegetation areas(USA, Italy, Chile, South Africa), employing networks of strips (Spain, Portugal), anddelineating risk-prone zones (Australia, France). All countries undertake fireprevention actions (e.g., fuel reduction and firebreak creation) oftenimplemented at the municipal level. There is almost no interaction betweenacademia and fire management agencies. Our review addresses the gap in themethods to define the WUI effectively implemented by fire managementagencies. We highlight the need to implement actions aimed at enhancing theinteraction between fire scientists and fire managers, which is essential forformulating and implementing effective strategies for fire prevention andoptimizing resources.