Community forest Management: Policy and scale of action. A case study of the Serra de Monchique, Algarve

The occurrence of forest fire events is becoming more frequent on our planet, affecting more people and generating devastating social, environmental, and economic impacts. The latest WWF (World Wildlife Funding) report identifies Portugal as the European country that has faced the most forest fire events in the last 30 years and as the fourth worldwide country that has lost the highest percentage of forest land area since the XXI century (with the burnt area increasing every year). Considering the Portuguese context, this research, developed under the scope of the BRIDGE (Bringing science and local communities together to reduce the risk of forest fires) project, focuses on the municipality of Monchique, located in the district of Faro (southern Portugal). Monchique has a historical backdrop of forest fires, with a significant percentage of its territory considered highly susceptible to forest fire occurrences. This dissertation seeks to ascertain whether the existing regulatory frameworks adequately acknowledge and harness local community capacities for forest management while simultaneously endeavouring to discern whether the institutional arrangements can function as catalysts for fostering a transition towards more collaborative and adaptive management approaches. Using adaptive co-management as a suitable approach for the management of Monchique’s territory, the underlying argument here is that the local community possesses valuable assets that, if appropriately nurtured, can facilitate the management of the forest territory. A questionnaire to understand Monchique’s community capacities was developed and applied, followed by a review and content analysis of the institutional arrangements. Findings suggest that there is an important capital within Monchique’s community that can be strengthened to create better synergies, enabling the community to improve the management of its territory and consequently reduce forest fire risk.

Thesis to obtain the Master of Science Degree in Spatial Planning and Urbanism at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa/2023. The thesis was developed under the BRIDGE Project, with funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology - FCT (grant number PCIF/AGT/0072/2019), under the supervision of Professora Doutora Maria do Rosário Partidário and Doutora Joana Dias.