Vineyards can act as firebreaks as wildfire risks increase across Europe
As wildfire risks increase across Europe, well-managed vineyards can be useful in slowing or even stopping fires.
This is particularly the case when they are managed in ways that promote healthier, more diverse landscapes, according to the European Commission.
Well-managed vineyards can act as natural firebreaks, with growers in countries such as France expressing that a loss of vineyards in recent years is making land more vulnerable.
The EU remains the world’s leading wine producer, accounting for over 60% of global output and nearly half of worldwide consumption.
According to the commission: "Europe is facing more wildfires as climate change brings rising temperatures, longer droughts and more abandoned land, all of which make many regions more vulnerable.
"As less land is actively farmed, vegetation becomes more overgrown, and fires can spread more easily."
The commission has highlighted the 'Fire Wine' project, part of the EU-funded 'FIRE-RES' initiative under Horizon 2020.
This project is testing how vineyards can help reduce fire risk while also benefiting producers.
"Started in Catalonia, the project now includes wine regions in Spain, France, Portugal, and Italy," the commission said.
"It supports producers who use land management practices such as vegetation clearing, buffer strip maintenance and collaboration with local forestry services.
"Research shows that vine plots, when well-managed, act as firebreaks by creating gaps in fuel and slowing the spread of flames.
"These managed areas can also provide valuable access points for firefighting services.
"Studies in fire-prone areas have shown that wildfires often stop at the edge of well-kept vineyards, provided the space between rows is not overgrown with flammable vegetation."
The latest wildfire situation in the EU is that over 1,025,036 million hectares, including much farmland, have burnt since the beginning of the year, according to data released this week from the Copernicus European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).
Last year in the same period, the area burnt was 222,132ha.
1,868 fires have been detected since the beginning of the year. Last year, in the same period, the number of fires was 1,185.
In the latest fire danger forecast up to September 1, the fire weather index anomaly map indicates low anomalies in France, southern Germany, Italy, and most of the Balkans.
In the Iberian Peninsula, conditions are expected to ease in the northern part, but high and very high fire weather index anomalies will still be prevalent, and extreme and very extreme values are expected in the southeast quadrant.
Extreme and very extreme anomalies are forecasted across Belgium, The Netherlands, northern Germany, southern Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania.
High anomalies are also possible in Sicily, Greece, and western Turkey.
Latest crop monitoring data by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre shows that hot and dry weather across southern and eastern Europe severely affected summer crops such as maize, sunflowers and soybean.
"Persistent drought conditions in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, southern Ukraine and Turkey caused irreversible yield damage in rainfed agriculture," the report said.
"Heat and rainfall deficit reduced yield expectations also in Hungary and eastern Croatia.
"In contrast, conditions were more favourable in western and northern Europe.
"In Spain, Portugal, Italy, northern France, the Benelux countries, Germany, and Poland, adequate rainfall and moderate temperatures – despite some heatwaves – supported summer crop development, with yield expectations around or above the five-year average.
"Grasslands in northern Europe also performed well."
Looking ahead, cooler and wetter conditions are forecast for central and northern Europe, while southern and south-eastern regions are expected to continue facing hot and dry conditions, according to the report.
