G.T.T2 - Comunication

GT1 - Capitalization of information and and elaboration of a common list of technical of technical references, regulatory and experience references

The objective of this document is to analyze state-of-the-art of management practices for the four main risks (drought, floods, wildfires and erosion) in the mountainous areas of the southwest region (SUDOE). And to study the current state of practices with a transnational approach in the SUDOE space

GT2 - Conception of the Transnational Strategic Framework for natural risk management

GT3 - Conception and implementation (testing and development) of common Action Plans for prevention and management of natural hazards

GT4 - Ownership and transferability

This document summarises the presentations given at the fourth seminar of the INTERREG MONTCLIMA project held in Bilbao, specifically at the Euskalduna Conference Centre, on 5th July 2022. The aim of this seminar, which is part of the MONTCLIMA project, was to provide information on existing local and international strategies for soil protection in SUDOE mountain areas. In addition to learning more about MONTCLIMA's pilot experiences on soil erosion reduction strategies and to gain a better understanding of the steps involved in the design of soil-based carbon offsetting mechanisms: the role of soil in climate neutrality, monitoring systems, and verification systems.

The purpose of this report is to present the main conclusions and lines of action defined during the 3rd Transnational Seminar of the SUDOE MONTCLIMA Project on strategies for managing and preventing drought impacts on forests in the SUDOE mountains. The hybrid seminar, organised by CREAF, was held on 30 September 2021 in Barcelona, Spain.

The main objective of the seminar, in line with the MONTCLIMA Project’s vocation, is to contribute to improving strategies for managing and preventing drought impacts on forests in the SUDOE mountains with the aim of:

  • Sharing knowledge and experiences on good management practices and prevention strategies for drought impacts on forests.
  • Contributing to more effective and efficient forest management policies.
  • Strengthening the resilience of the SUDOE mountain territories to drought and the impacts of climate change.

The MONTCLIMA SUDOE Project contributes to the development of a framework of reference that serves as a transnational strategy for preventing natural hazards that have a particularly severe effect on mountain areas in the southwest of Europe.

The MONTCLIMA project: climate and natural risks in the SUDOE mountains is a European project, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the European cooperation Programme for Southwestern Europe (Interreg SUDOE).

Started in 2019, MONTCLIMA will run until December 2022 and aims to strengthen the resilience of the mountain territories of southwestern Europe in a transnational strategic framework based on the capitalization of projects successfully carried out on the prevention and management of climate-induced natural hazards (fires, droughts, floods and erosion).

Mountain areas are among the territories most affected by natural hazards and these risks are expected to increase due to the effects of climate change (more severe droughts, higher average temperatures, changes in precipitation regime). These risks know no administrative boundaries (e.g. fires that cross continuous forest stands) and require transnational coordination.

The focus of the project settles on the following strategic objectives:

  • Capitalization of successful cases of forms of governance and practical initiatives for prevention and management of natural hazards;
  • Design of a methodology for the development of a transnational strategic framework for risk prevention and management in SUDOE mountain areas;
  • Test of the Transnational Strategic Framework in pilot territories for the project's natural hazards;
  • Communication and dissemination of results and tools.

MONTCLIMA will develop an integrated strategy and methodology based on experience and demonstration through pilot projects that will be tested in SUDOE territories, relying for that purpose on a partnership that gathers competent bodies in the matter at state level, research centers and representatives of regional and local authorities from three countries.

This document aims to present the main inputs, good practices and conclusions of the II Transnational Thematic Seminar promoted in the scope of MONTCLIMA, named "Strategies for Managing and Preventing Forest Fires in the SUDOE Space", which took place on April 22nd 2021, in Leiria, in an online format.

This initiative, with an international vocation, counted on a diverse panel of experts from Portugal, Spain, Andorra and France, who focused, fundamentally, on two themes:

This report has the aim of presenting the main conclusions and lines of action set during the SUDOE MONTCLIMA project’s 1st Transnational Seminar on Natural Hazards and Climate Change in Mountain Areas, which was backed by the Pyrenean Working Community Consortium (CTP) through its Pyrenean Climate Change Observatory (OPCC) initiative. The Seminar took place partially in-person on 20 and 21 October 2020 in Soria, Spain.
In line with the MONTCLIMA project’s vocation, this Seminar’s general aim is to contribute to the improved management and prevention of the project’s four identified General introduction hazards -droughts, floods, forest fires, and erosion-, while placing a spotlight on climate change’s influence on these events. In this way, all project members contribute to the development of a reference framework that serves as a transnational strategy to prevent the natural hazards that affect Southwestern Europe’s mountain areas with particular intensity.
These mountain areas are some of those most affected by natural events, and we can expect that these risks will increase significantly in the future as a result of climate change.