Climate change has more than doubled the risk of extreme wildfire conditions in Canada. In recent years, the area burned annually by wildfires in Canada has grown steadily, with an average increase of 330.000 hectares per decade. These more intense fire seasons require urgent measures to increase resilience to forest fires while ensuring a sustainable and reliable supply of biomass.
The hybrid workshop “Wildfire Resilience and Biomass Supply,” organized by IEA Bioenergy Task 43 and Université Laval, brought together experts from Canada, Europe, Australia and the United States. The aim was to share knowledge and best practices for sustainable forest fire management and ensuring biomass supply.
Main conclusions:
- Governments must increase their efforts: It is essential that governments step up efforts to both strengthen resilience to forest fires and encourage sustainable biomass use. A holistic approach to fire management is crucial.
- Cost of Inaction vs. Adaptation: It is important to weigh the costs of doing nothing against the benefits of adaptation measures. Limited resources for landscape management require strategies that also support other goals, such as forest product production and community protection.
- Regional strategies are crucial: Developing regional strategies is essential to effectively tackle the increasing challenges of forest fires. This includes considerations such as biodiversity, carbon sequestration and other ecological factors.
- Biomass recovery research: Future research should focus on improving biomass recovery after forest fires. This can contribute to the production of bioproducts and bioenergy.
- Sustainable forest management: Combining fuel management and biomass disposal for bioenergy offers a win-win solution, especially for vulnerable communities.
- Strengthen resilience: Improving the resilience of forests and industrial structures, for example by planting fire-resistant species, is of great importance.
- Market-oriented recovery strategies: Effective strategies for restoring damaged trees and reaching markets require good coordination across the supply chain.
- Collaboration and cost sharing: Governments can promote cost sharing between bioenergy production and forest fire management. Leadership and community benefits, such as job creation, are important.
For more information and the full report: Wildfire Resilience and Biomass Supply.
