build and mobilize foundational wildland fire knowledge program
with $48 million to invest over 4 years starting in april 2024, the build and mobilize foundational wildland fire knowledge program aims to encourage collaborative research and demonstration projects focused on innovation in wildfire risk assessment, risk mitigation, and adaptive forest management as per the blueprint for wildland fire science in canada.
this new program will address gaps in foundational knowledge by developing and evaluating wildland fire risk assessment and risk mitigation strategies and technologies that support indigenous peoples, local and provincial/territorial governments and fire management agencies to reduce wildfire risk in the face of a changing climate.
the program will support initiatives that advance knowledge in the following three themes.
theme 1: wildfire risk assessment
priority research topics:
- developing methods and baseline data for risk assessments at community and regional scales
- integrating multiple values including air quality, carbon balance, fibre recovery
- leveraging new technologies to accelerate risk assessments
- leveraging new technologies, and integration of research into predictive models and decision-making tools
theme 2: wildfire risk mitigation
priority research topics:
- testing and demonstrating the real-world feasibility, cost and effectiveness of prevention or mitigation strategies or technologies, including new approaches
- understanding social acceptability of different interventions
- creating awareness that leads to action by increasing the efficacy of education, outreach, and mobilization strategies
- estimating the effects of relevant risk-reduction interventions, including return on investment
theme 3: adaptive forestry practices
priority research topics:
- testing and demonstrating enhanced fibre recovery from fuel management activities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and offset the costs of treatment
- developing approaches to integrate wildfire risk reduction as an outcome in forest management practices
- identifying, testing, and demonstrating new forest management practices that minimize impacts of future wildland fires