Adapting forest management to forest fires – some options to explore for the boreal forest

Abstract

The Canadian 2023 forest fire season has been of such magnitude that it forces us to think deeply about forest management as it is currently practiced in the Canadian boreal forest. As similar events are likely to recur in upcoming years, we must reflect on management practices to better cope with these risks and mitigate their consequences. Focussing on the Québec situation, we discussed six general options as contributions to the debate on an adaptation strategy to face increasing forest fire risks in the boreal forest. To attenuate the harmful consequences of future fire activity in the boreal forest, we suggest that the maintenance of the natural resilience mechanism, the protection of communities and key infrastructures and the deployment of a test ground for assessing potential adaptation practices are options that need to be considered. We also propose that fire risk be considered a priori in wood supply planning and silvicultural investments, as well as an industrial transition for the forest-dependent communities.