The event, which placed particular emphasis on the Fire Wine project among others, served as a platform for exchanging challenges and innovative solutions in forest and landscape management, biodiversity conservation, and wildfire prevention. It also offered the international community an opportunity to learn from Catalonia's pioneering experience in these areas.

Field visits aimed at identifying and exploring innovative solutions for landscape management and the recovery and preservation of biodiversity in the fight against wildfires allowed participants from the scientific community to gather first-hand information on urban forest dynamics, fire-resilient landscape strategies, and post-fire landscape restoration. All of this highlighted the urgent need for active management and conservation of Mediterranean forests in the face of the complex challenge of risk prevention and mitigation across the Mediterranean Basin.

Participants were able to gain insight into real-life examples such as the case of the Serra de Queralt and Santa Coloma de Queralt, which were severely affected by wildfires in 2021 that burned 1,823 hectares; the case of the Collserola Natural Park, comprising 8,000 hectares of Mediterranean forest just 15 km from Barcelona and surrounded by a metropolitan area of 4 million people, under strong pressure from urban expansion, climate emergency, and high wildfire risk; and experiences from inland Catalonia focusing on innovative approaches to fire-resilient landscapes through grazing and vineyard cultivation—particularly the Fire Wine project, coordinated by the Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTFC). Specifically, the Fire Wine field visit to the DO Pla de Bages area took place at the Abadal winery and allowed participants to see on site how vegetation has regenerated and how vineyards acted as firebreaks, protecting both the estate and the historic farmhouse from the fire's impact. The vineyards at Abadal also serve as a strategic support point for the Catalan Fire and Rescue Service’s Forest Action Support Group (GRAF) in creating controlled backfires.

Experts from the Barcelona Provincial Council, the University of Lleida (UdL), from the Forest Action Support Group (GRAF) of the Catalan Fire and Rescue Service, the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), and the Coevolvers project took part in the field visits. The initiative was part of the Eighth Mediterranean Forest Week, promoted by Silva Mediterranea – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), held in Barcelona from 4 to 8 November.

You can consult the full programme and details of the field visits of the Eighth Mediterranean Forest Week, which focused on Catalonia’s example and the lessons it has to offer.