Nature-based solutions to wildfires in rural landscapes of Southern Europe: let's be fire-smart!

Extreme wildfires are expected to increase in Southern Europe, due to climate change and rural abandonment. Fire management is focused on suppression, which accelerates the transition to more flammable landscapes. Here, we synthesise the knowledge acquired over the FirESmart' project (https://firesmartproject.wordpress.com). Our findings show how agroforestry policies could benefit biodiversity while providing further fire suppression opportunities. The EU Green Deal offers an opportunity to incorporate fire-smartness' into upcoming agroforestry policies. Still, if these policies fail at reversing rural abandonment, the use of fire could enhance rewilding and tree-planting as climate-smart' strategies in the fire-prone mountains of Southern Europe.