Gazzard Rob, McMorrow Julia, Aylen Jonathan
Forestry Commission England, Forest Services, Bucks Horn Oak, Farnham, Hampshire GU10 4LS, UK
School of Environment, Education and Development, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2016 Jun 5;371(1696). doi: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0341.
Severe wildfires are an intermittent problem in England. The paper presents the first analysis of wildfire policy, showing its halting evolution over two decades. First efforts to coordinate wildfire management came from local fire operation groups, where stakeholders such as fire services, land owners and amenity groups shared knowledge and equipment to tackle the problem. A variety of structures and informal management solutions emerged in response to local needs. Knowledge of wildfire accumulated within regional and national wildfire forums and academic networks. Only later did the need for central emergency planning and the response to climate change produce a national policy response. Fire statistics have allowed wildfires to be spatially evidenced on a national scale only since 2009. National awareness of wildfire was spurred by the 2011 fire season, and the high-impact Swinley Forest fire, which threatened critical infrastructure and communities within 50 miles of London. Severe wildfire was included in the National Risk Register for the first time in 2013. Cross-sector approaches to wildfire proved difficult as government responsibility is fragmented along the hazard chain. Stakeholders such as the Forestry Commission pioneered good practice in adaptive land management to build fire resilience into UK forests. The grass-roots evolution of participatory solutions has also been a key enabling process. A coordinated policy is now needed to identify best practice and to promote understanding of the role of fire in the ecosystem.This article is part of a themed issue 'The interaction of fire and mankind'.
严重野火在英国是一个间歇性问题。本文首次对野火政策进行了分析，展示了其在二十年里的缓慢演变。最初协调野火管理的努力来自地方火灾行动小组，消防部门、土地所有者和市容美化团体等利益相关者在这些小组中共享知识和设备以解决问题。为满足当地需求，出现了各种结构和非正式管理解决方案。野火知识在区域和国家野火论坛以及学术网络中不断积累。直到后来，中央应急规划的需求以及对气候变化的应对才催生了国家政策回应。自2009年起，火灾统计数据才使得野火在全国范围内有了空间证据。2011年火灾季节以及影响重大的斯温利森林大火激发了全国对野火的关注，这场大火威胁到了伦敦50英里范围内的关键基础设施和社区。严重野火于2013年首次被纳入《国家风险登记册》。由于政府责任在灾害链上分散，跨部门应对野火的方法被证明很困难。林业委员会等利益相关者率先在适应性土地管理方面开展了良好实践，以增强英国森林的防火能力。参与式解决方案的基层演变也是一个关键的推动过程。现在需要一项协调一致的政策来确定最佳实践，并促进对火灾在生态系统中作用的理解。本文是主题为“火与人类的相互作用”的特刊的一部分。
