7th Workshop on Forest Fire Management - EARSeL, European ...

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I - PRE-FIRE PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
3 - Results
The districts around the big Austrian cities do not show a fire risk because
of tourism. The reason for that is that forest fires are absent within the district
boundaries of the cities. Exceptions are the districts of the towns of
Villach with eight forest fires, Wiener Neustadt and Krems with 3 forest fire,
Waidhofen an der Ybbs with 2 forest fires and Salzburg and Sankt Pölten
with 1 forest fire.
Touristic activities are found to influence fire risk in the provinces of Tyrol,
Carinthia, Salzburg and Styria in all four scenarios significantly. In those
provinces the highest density of touristic infrastructure as well as the highest
number of overnight stays is found. Being popular tourist destinations
with an ideal site development makes those provinces susceptible to a
higher fire risk.
Compared to the influence of tourism in the mountainous regions of Austria
the influence of tourism on fire risk turns out to be fairly marginal in
Vorarlberg, Upper Austria, Burgenland and Lower Austria. Even though the
number of overnight stays is quite elevated in some parts of those
provinces, tourism does not play a significant role for fire ignition, since
the degree of site development with touristic infrastructure is relatively low
compared to the mountainous regions of Austria. In spite of this the results
of the districts of Wiener Neustadt and Neunkirchen in Lower Austria stand
out notably. Here the influence of tourism on fire risk is relatively high.
Additionally the importance of the area as a local recreation area for Wiener
Neustadt and Baden increases fire risk remarkably in those two districts.
4 - Conclusions
In regions with a high density of touristic infrastructure fire risk is influenced
by touristic activities to a great extent. Areas in the direct vicinity
of cities did not proof to be susceptible to fire risk caused by tourism at
all. Regions with a medium or low density of touristic infrastructure had a
comparatively low fire risk connected to tourism. However the influence of
touristic activities cannot be excluded completely. Another important factor
needing further investigation in this context is the influence of local
recreation on fire risk.
References
Chuvieco, E.; Aguado, I.; Yebra, M.; Nieto, H.; Salas, J.; Pilar Martín; Vilar,
L.; Martínez, J.; Martín, S.; Ibarra, P.; de la Riva, J.; Baeza, J.;
Rodríguez, F.; Molina, J.R.; Herrera, M.A.; Zamora, R.: Development of a
framework for fire risk assessment using remote sensing and geographic