Wildfires: Responsible forestry as a risk mitigation tool

Wildfires in recent years have ravaged millions of hectares of forest land, destroyed thousands of homes and claimed hundreds of victims.  

Globally, nearly all of the worst years for forest fires on record have occurred since 2020. And fires are now the largest driver of forest loss around the world. Urgent and coordinated action is required to prevent further devastation, but with a number of factors fuelling the intensity of the fires – including climate change impacts and human activity – there is no one easy answer.  

But here's what we do know: responsible forest management helps mitigate fire risks and protects communities and ecosystems from wildfires’ devastating impacts.  

Management practices that create resilient forests

FSC's core principles require that forest managers assess risks related to natural hazards, including wildfires, and that they implement activities that help mitigate those risks.  

In practice, these activities may look different in each country, depending on the environmental conditions, risks and characteristics of each region. FSC's national forest stewardship standards for different countries account for these differences. 

For example, in northern Spain, where the Devesa da Rogueira became the country's first forest to receive FSC certification in 2020, community members who managed the forest regularly cleared vegetation that could fuel fires. Two years later, a large wildfire scorched more than 11,000 hectares in the area – but left the Devesa da Rogueira forest largely untouched. 

In Guatemala, communities have invested in patrolling the boundaries of FSC-certified concessions, build and maintain fire gaps and consistently monitor the area through GPS technology and the use of drones. A 2018 study found the managed forest lands had practically no fire incidents over the span of a decade. 

Portugal's 2017 wildfires – which scorched through more than 500,000 hectares and killed more than 120 people – also highlighted the critical need for enhanced forest management activities and led to a variety of management initiatives since then.  

In FSC-certified forests there, managers have for years proactively worked on responsible forest management, implementing actions to increase fire resistance and ecosystem resilience, including by controlling invasive species and promoting the regeneration of native species. 

Forest management practices around the world that can help prevent fires can also include procedures such as controlling visitor activities, removing trash, creating space that firefighters can use in the event of a rapid fire, and maintaining buffer zones between public roads. 

Across the world, FSC certification means that forests are managed in ways that protect ecosystems and enhance forest resilience – because healthier forests not only help reduce the risks of high-severity wildfires, but also allow for ecosystems’ faster recovery.