Forest fire risk mapping in the Municipality of Boljevac

Abstract

The research was conducted in the Municipality of Boljevac, which geographically belongs to Eastern Serbia - Timočka Krajina, and administratively to the Zaječar District. Forest protection from fires in this area is of great importance as it can pose a threat. Spatial data within the Geodatabase are organised into the following thematic units: orographic characteristics (altitude, aspect, slope, soil erosion index, heat degrees by altitude, and thermal coordinates of aspect and slope), climate data (mean annual air temperatures, mean annual precipitation), geological and soil characteristics, vegetation (forest types, forest stands by degree of degradation, forest stands by age), fuel material (dead wood and stumps, forest edge on the boundary of forests/non-forests), isokeraunic map, human impact (human factor - human risk, history of fires and its impact on forest fire vulnerability, accessibility of the forest complex and hydrographic data, degree of organisation of areas designated for tourist and recreational activities, other biotechnical measures of protection). Based on 973,152 Geodatabase records grouped into 30,411 homogeneous units, zones were identified based on the degree of vulnerability to forest fires. An analysis of all parameters that affect the degree of vulnerability to varying extents revealed that 33.01% of the total forest area belongs to the first degree of vulnerability - very high vulnerability, 37.10% to the second degree - high vulnerability, while the third degree - moderate vulnerability is represented on 22.02% of the area, and the fourth degree - low vulnerability on 7.87% of the area. The fifth degree - no vulnerability to forest fires was not observed in the Municipality of Boljevac.