Institute full name:

Universidade de Aveiro, departamento de Ambiente e Ordenamento

Institute acronym:

UA-DAO

Institute profile:

The Department of Environment and Planning (DAO) members have considerable expertise in the various fields of environmental management and planning as well as urban and rural development and planning. DAO is one of the central pillars of the UAVR’s R&D Unit, Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM). The Planning and Management of Natural Resources Group (GPGRN) has a long-standing record of research into hydrological, soil erosional and land degradational impacts of forest wildfires, socio-economic dimension of land degradation and deserfication perception studies of environmental hazards.

The group has a large research experience in Mediterranean and semi-arid environments through research projects in the European Mediterranean and North Africa. The group will focus on the impacts of forest fires and depopulation processes upon desertification.

Website

www.ua.pt

Address

Universidade de Aveiro, Departamento Ambiente e Ordenamento

Campus Universitário de Santiago

3810-193 Aveiro

Portugal

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Involved personnel

Name	Contact details	Key qualifications	Photo
Prof. Dr. Celeste de Oliveira Alves Coelho	Tel: +351 234 370 200 Ext: 22611 E-mail: coelho@ua.pt	Coordinating several EU and Portuguese Government funded research and development projects. Pioneer in the study of erosion and hydrological processes in the forest and rangeland areas in Portugal.
Prof. Dr. Filomena Martins	Tel: +351 234 370 200 Ext: 22614 E-mail: filomena@ua.pt	Associate Professor participating in six EU-funded projects and twelve nationally funded projects. Specialist in socio-economic assessment and participative approaches.
Ing. Anne-Karine Boulet	Tel: +351 234 370 200 Ext: 22614 E-mail: bolroulet@ua.pt	Agronomic Engineer, studying in the field hydrologic physical process related with land use changes, soil degradation and desertification. Participating in several European funded projects.
Dr. Sandra Valente	Tel: +351 234 370 200 Ext: 22641 E-mail: sandra.valente@ua.pt	Urban and Regional planning specialist, with special interest in the water resources management, risk social perception and local development. Participating in several European funded projects.
João Soares	Tel.: +351 234 370 200 Ext.: 22641 E-mail: jsoares@ua.pt	Environmental engineer, with a Master in Environmental Engineering (Thesis title: Strategic Environmental Assessment: methodological discussion of its application). Special interest in: land degradation, soil erosion, desertification and stakeholders’ involvement.

{mosgmap mapid=34|height=350px|zoomtype=small|showmaptype=true}

Mação is one of the four UNCCD Pilot Areas in Portugal. It lies in a transition zone between the semi-arid and sub-humid regions of Portugal. It has undergone severe drought periods that have completely changed the character of the region during the past decade. Drought impacts have been compounded by catastrophic wildfires that destroyed most of the municipality's forested area. Some areas burned twice in as little as 5 years during the last decade, leading to severe soil and vegetation degradation. In addition, the local economy is weak, caused primarily by this being one of the Portuguese municipalities with the highest percentage of old people.

Global climate change processes are leading to degradation of the soils, reduction of water supply and widespread poverty, which have all resulted in the outmigration of young people and consequent ageing of the remaining population. Several national and European development projects are currently being, or have been, implemented in an attempt to reverse the environmental and socio-economic degradation processes. DESIRE provides a framework that allows deeper insight into the degradation processes and an assessment of the efficiency of these measures aimed at reversing the degradation processes.

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More details ... read the full study site description and an overview of all sites
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»Comparative overview of all study sites

Area and people
Forest zones.

Added value of DESIRE for stakeholders
The dialogue between actor's types which are not habit to speaking together. The exchange of point of view between various type of actors (in that case the municipality and the technicians allowed to find more complete solutions in their problem). The exchange of experiences between two study sites and two different types of stakeholders.

Study site stakeholder workshops
The local stakeholders invited to the workshop were:

• members from the municipality council and parishes;
• technicians from the Forest Technical Office (GTF);
• technicians from the Municipal Civil Protection Agencies;
• Civil Security Authority (GNR-SEPNA)
• farmers;
• forest associations;
• local development associations.

The external stakeholders invited to the workshop were:

• technicians from the AFN – Autoridade Florestal Nacional (National Authority to Forest);
• technicians from the CCDR-C – Comissão de Coordenação de Desenvolvimento Regional da Região Centro (Commission for the Coordination of Regional Development in Central Portugal);
• technicians from DRAP-C – Direcção Regional da Agricultura e Pescas do Centro (Regional Directorate of Agriculture and Fisheries in Central Portugal);
• national representative of the Convention to Combat Desertification;
• researcher.

Limitations for spontaneous implementation of soil and water conservation practices
Problems of ageing of the population in this zone, there is little active person so little means for the municipality.

Stakeholder groups

• AFN - Autoridade Florestal Nacional (National Authority to Forest): This body is part of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries. Its main aims are to define a national forest policy and manage the forestry sector. It is actively involved in DESIRE with local representation, mainly with respect to the prescribed fire activity in Góis municipality and the promotion of Forest Intervention Areas (ZIF). (http://www.afn.min-agricultura.pt/portal (link expired))
• UNCCD National Focal point: The NAP (National Action Programme) to Combat Desertification has been applied since 1999, with 5 Pilot Areas. Mação municipality is one of these Pilot Areas. A close working relation has been established during past years between members of the Portuguese participants in DESIRE and the Portuguese UNCCD focal point.
• Instituto da Água (Water Institute): This body is responsible for the implementation of the national water policy. (http://www.inag.pt/ (link expired))
• Autoridade Nacional de Protecção Civil (National Authority for Civil Protection): Civil protection is organized at municipal, regional and national levels. In the DESIRE project, civil protection is represented at the local level, where it is incorporated into local government authorities. (www.proteccaocivil.pt/)
• DRAP-C - Direcção Regional de Agricultura e Pescas (Regional Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for the Central Region): This regional body is a branch of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries and supports the agriculture and fisheries sectors at the regional and local level. (http://www.drapc.min-agricultura.pt/)
• CCDR-C - Commission de Coordenação de Desenvolvimento Regional do Centro (Commission for the Coordination of Regional Development in Central Portugal): is the regional government board with responsibilities for the environment and planning, and with responsibilities for the management of EU and government investment in the region. (http://www.ccdrc.pt/)
• Mação local government and municipal services: Mação municipality has ultimate responsibility for the management of the district and its resources, with an active role in the planning and management of the municipality territory. Mação local government has developed remarkable efforts in forest fire prevention, detection and fire-fighting through its Forest Technical Office and Municipal Civil Protection Services. This body has been collaborating on UAVR and ESAC research projects since the 1990s and is actively involved in the DESIRE project. (http://cm-macao.pt)

• Góis local government and municipal services: As with Mação municipality, Góis is responsibility for the management of its territory and resources, with a crucial duty for planning and management activities. It also represents the local interests at higher levels of associations and governmental bodies. Due to the characteristics of the territory, forest municipality services are a majorly important body in the organization and has developed year-round activities to prevent forest fires and to maintain safety of the population and infrastructure. Góis territory and the surrounding areas are being use to test different types of means to prevent forest fires and for a long time they have served as an experimental  environment for research teams. On the behalf of the DESIRE Project, Góis municipality has been collaborating with UAVR and ESAC on the different activities to the achieve the goals of the project.

• Aflomação – Associação Florestal do Concelho de Mação (Forest Association of Mação Municipality): This body was created in 2004 to promote the association between forest owners and to create so-called Forest Intervention Areas.   The involvement of this association in the DESIRE project is very important since it establishes interaction between the municipality and landowners. (http://www.aflomacao.pt/)
• University of Aveiro (UAVR) & ESAC: the relationship between these institutions and the local authorities has been established for more than fifteen years and it has been built on and reinforced since 1992 through several previous common research and development projects. (http://www.ua.pt & http://www.esac.pt)

Sustainability goals

The goals can be used as a starting point for a community to develop their own vision and goals for sustainable forestry. The list of sustainable forest management goals that were developed by other communities and organizations has been useful for this work package.

“Our goal is to sustain and expand a renewable resource that will meet future consumer demand at competitive prices while, at the same time, respecting the diverse demands imposed by society, including the rational protection of sanctuary and habitat.” (Source: http://www.communitiescommittee.org/fsitool/index.html)

The table shows the sustainability goals that were identified for the two study sites.

Source: information from regional and national plans and stakeholder workshops.

The reasons for desertification and land degradation occurring can be environmental (for example due to the climate or soil conditions), economic, due to the actions of people or, most often, due to a combination of factors. The resulting degradation may be temporary or permanent.

To help understand this complex picture it can be helpful to think in terms the dominant socio-economic and environmental forces that are driving the process of land degradation. These place pressures on the land which have particular impacts. Human society may have already made responses to those impacts, or may have knowledge about how they could respond. Decisions about which responses to make may also be governed by a range of international, national or local policy regulations and agreements.

In the Mação study site, the same stakeholder workshop and questionnaires that were used to identify existing and potential response strategies (»Identifying strategies: Stakeholder workshop 1) also discussed and identified these driving forces; pressures; impacts; and the policy and regulation environment. This information was then used to inform the choice of »Field experiments, the scenarios used in »Simulated biophysical impact of remediation strategies and their financial viability, and context for the study site-specific »Policy brief recommendations.

Select map type

Land use: type Land use: trends Land use: intensity trend Degradation: type Degradation: extent Degradation: degree Degradation: rate Land conservation: groups Land conservation: extent Land conservation: measures Land conservation: effectiveness Land conservation: effectiveness trends

Comments

Map version: 11Oct11

The main processes or causes in the Mação study site are: forest fires and water erosion in agricultural areas.   For these processes, the Desertification Risk Assessment Tool needed data to calculate 431 indicators in 31 map units. Using data from the WOCAT QM database, the required indicators were estimated and imported to the Assessment Tool.   The procedure was applied to all the map units in the study site and the DRI values calculated are shown in Table 1.   Table 1: Desertification risk calculation per map unit

The DRI values were mapped for each of the 31 polygons (Map 1)

Map 1: Desertification risk index (DRI)	Map 2: Degree of land degradation (as assessed using the WOCAT mapping method)

The DRI map was compared with the WOCAT QM of the same area (Map 2). It can be seen that the rate of degradation and the land conservation measures seen in the WOCAT map correspond closely to the DRI values, with the highest values of DRI coinciding with agronomic (vegetation soil cover) measures and the erosion due to water loss of the top soil.

Introduction

Like many Mediterranean countries Portugal suffers from forest fire due to its dry and hot climate. The problem is not only degradation of forest and the emission of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere but it also increases soil losses and pollution of water and air. The Mação Region in Portugal suffered massive fires in 2003 and 2005 affecting more than 70% of the municipality area. To protect the forest from wild fire strip network is constructed. The Vale Torto area near Góis in Portugal was burned by several fires in the 1970s and the early 1980s. Similarly the Camelo catchment near Góis also suffers from forest fire with the recent fire taking place in July 2008. Experiments included strip corridors (Macao) and prescribed burning (Vale Torto).

The area has shallow Cambisols (< 30 cm deep) over metamorphic shists and steep slopes. The main vegetation is pine forest, Eucalypt and shrubs, but fire destroys this and decreases the vegetation cover. The climate shows a strong seasonality despite the overall high precipitation (600-1000 mm per year) with dry summers. The landscape has steep slopes and a deeply incised drainage system.

Desertification indices
The index was calculated for water erosion, overgrazing, water stress and fire risk. The values depend on the selection for intact forest or for a burned area, which affects mainly water erosion and overgrazing. On the next page the result of three calculations are shown: intact forest, heavily burned forest and forest with fire protection measures. The differences between the areas are not sufficient to distinguish them in the desertification index tool.

Oddly enough the desertification index scores highest for overgrazing, and fire risk, for which the area is known, scores only as low risk. The fire risk depends on land use intensity which is difficult to estimate: if tourism is counted (which is one of the causes of forest fire) and the land use intensity is increased from low to high, the fire risk increases also from 1.49 to 1.65.

Water erosion and overgrazing give the highest risk factors, respectively 3.8 and 5.4 for an intact forest with a cover of 0.5-0.75. The fire risk is low: 1.7 and there is no water stress. After a forest fire with a low cover and high percentage of forest fire these values change to 4.5 for water erosion and 4.7 for overgrazing, presumably because there is less vegetation to graze upon.

The fire risk is not affected by the burning. This may indicate a false effect: in reality a forest fire would decrease the fuel load available and greatly decrease the risk. This is in fact the purpose one of prescribed burning, which is one of the control measures tested in the project. Fire protection also hardly affects fire risk, the index decreases from 1.65 to 1.48, both in the low risk zone.

Intact forest (50-75% cover, no burning)	Burned forest (< 10% cover, heavy buring)
Extreme fire protection measures (>75% area protected)

Conclusions
The desertification index gives a correct assessment that it shows water erosion as clear a risk in this area with shallow soils and steep slopes, as is also one of the objectives in the DESIRE project. Howver the erosion risk is also high for the natural situation of intact forest which is less clear. Overgrazing is also a risk in these fragile ecosystems which is not taking place yet because of the low animal density. Forest fire risk is not so well indicated, the index does not sem to e affected by variables that are related to forest fire for unclear reasons.

A report on the results of the first DESIRE stakeholder workshop held in Mação, Portugal, 14-15 March 2008.

In Portugal, forest fires are one of the major factors of land degradation processes. Affecting large areas every year, they also have serious human, socio-economic and psychological impacts. Two study sites were selected - Mação and Góis. Both sites are located in Central Portugal and are frequently affected by forest fires.

The stakeholders

External factors identified Globalization and market policies; Agricultural and environmental policies, not only at the EU Community level but also at the national and local level; Low perception and knowledge about the local problems shown by technicians and policy makers; Inadequate laws and lack of their implementation and control; Changes on the social, economical and policy conjuncture; Human depopulation.

Indicators
of land degradation lack of vegetation; low vegetation regeneration; stony terrains; lack of water; several erosion forms; soils burned; some vegetation associations; decrease and ageing of the population; low public participation; lack of investment.		of land conservation good practices (contour planting, terraces, water points, walls, forest fire, combat and prevention infrastructures); tracks; cleaned terrains; existence of leisure areas; municipalities approach to these problems; conscientious and receptive population.

View photographs taken during the workshop

More details ... download full report and poster and see general results and conclusions from all sites
	English: WP3.1 Stakeholder Workshop 1: Portugal (report) 1.39 MB Português: WP3.1 Stakeholder Workshop 1: Portugal (report)_PT 3.53 MB
	WP3.1 Stakeholder Workshop 1: Mação (results poster) 324.65 kB
»Identifying strategies: Stakeholder Workshop 1 methodology and summary results from all study sites

Stakeholder Workshop 1 identified a number of existing or potential strategies to combat desertification and land degradation in the Maçã and Góis study sites. In the months following the workshop these strategies (technologies or approaches) were documented and evaluated in a structured and standardised way and their descriptions were entered in the WOCAT Technologies and Approaches databases in order to share the information with other DESIRE sites as well as globally.

For details of all Technologies and Approaches documented in the WOCAT Database (from the DESIRE study sites and from other sites worldwide), see

• WOCAT Technologies Database
• WOCAT Approaches Database

For those relating to this study site, click on the Name of technology or Name of approach to go directly to the descriptions in the database.

WOCAT Technologies Database

WOCAT Approaches Database