Forest fire risk zoning for the metropolitan region of Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil

Abstract

Forest fires are becoming increasingly frequent throughout the globe, influencing socioeconomic and environmental aspects and endangering ecosystems and life. The forest fire risk zoning is an auxiliary tool for elaborating and implementing preventive policies. The present study aims to execute the forest fire risk zoning for the metropolitan region of Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil, testing its efficiency through the relationship with geolocated fires that occurred from 2011 to 2016. Thematic maps were made through information related to demographic density, road system, land use and cover, slope, orientation and altimetry of the terrain. The efficiency of the proposed zoning, 45.8% and 44.0% of the geolocated fires that occurred in the study area in the period 2011 to 2016 were present in areas considered with "very high" and "high" risk, respectively, demonstrating that the proposed zoning can be used to develop prevention policies for the metropolitan region of Curitiba.

Keywords

• wildfire; urban-rural interface; wildland-urban interface; fire hazard; fire prediction