Integrating cultural ecosystem services in wildfire risk assessment

The impact of natural disturbances such as wildfires on ecosystem services and local communities is significant. Conventional assessments of wildfire risks often overlook the potential loss of ecosystem services, particularly cultural ones (CES). This study presents a methodology for integrating CES into wildfire risk assessment, combining expert CES participatory mapping with standard procedures based on fire hazard and vulnerability modelling. We tested the methodology in a European Alpine landscape of 143 km2 involving 8 municipalities and 30 local stakeholders. Integrating CES hotspots changed the risk classification by at least two classes for 52 of the 358 valley subwatersheds and made the distribution of high and very high-risk areas more scattered. This study demonstrates that including CES in wildfire risk assessment and prevention schemes through a participatory process can encourage stakeholder engagement and provide additional information on the indirect benefits of the ecosystem. We conclude that the application of this methodology to other contexts would strongly benefit local wildfire risk management plans.