Chile Wildfire Project: Addressing the Escalating Threat of Wildfires
In recent years, wildfires have devastated large regions in Chile, the Western United States, and various other areas across Europe, North America, South America, Eastern Russia, Australia, and New Zealand. The wildfires of 2017 alone resulted in extensive damage, with subsequent fires in 2018 further exacerbating the situation, particularly in Southern Europe and the Western U.S. These catastrophic events have collectively burned tens of millions of hectares, leading to significant loss of life, displacement of thousands, and incalculable ecological, economic, and human costs.
Fire has emerged as a leading agent of deforestation across both tropical and temperate latitudes. The past decade has witnessed the five worst wildfire years in U.S. history, a trend mirrored in Chile. These fires not only threaten human habitation but also endanger the existence of primary forests and other native woodland habitats. The resulting loss of biodiversity contributes to the release of substantial amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere.
The rise in wildfire frequency and intensity correlates with climate change, altered rainfall patterns, and expanding drought cycles. Given these climate-related factors, wildfires are expected to remain a significant driver of deforestation and a disruptive force affecting the health and well-being of human communities worldwide. To mitigate these challenges, proactive adaptations are essential. The Chile Wildfire Project aims to address these issues by developing innovative, multidisciplinary approaches grounded in natural and social sciences for effective wildfire prevention and sustainable financing.
Led by Principal Investigator Don Melnick, director of Columbia's Center for Environment, Economy, and Society and Co-Principal Investigator Cristián Bonacic from Universidad Católica (UC), this multidisciplinary research initiative examines the causes, consequences, and prevention of wildfires in Chile. The project is supported by grants from the Columbia University President’s Global Innovation Fund (PGIF) and the Chilean government.
The research team comprises an international collaboration of scientists, including Melnick, Kevin Griffin, and Duncan Menge, from Columbia University; Bonacic, Tomás Ibarra, and Rodrigo Arriagada from Universidad Católica; Mark Cochrane from the University of Maryland; and Kathy Martin from the University of British Columbia. Additionally, students José Infante and Fernando Novoa from UC, along with Emily Jager and Stephanie Schmiege from Columbia, are actively involved in the research efforts.
Research sites include several national protected areas in the Araucanía region of Southern Chile, such as Tolhuaca National Park, Malleco National Reserve, and China Muerta National Reserve. The project consists of three phases: (1) investigating the ecological consequences of wildfires in Chilean temperate forests, from soil to tree canopy; (2) determining the biophysical and socioeconomic causes of wildfires; and (3) integrating findings from phases one and two into the implementation of The Rainforest StandardTM as a science-based financial mechanism to incentivize future wildfire prevention.
In Year 1, the project focused on designing a sampling strategy for forests that had never burned, experienced a single burn (in 2002 or 2015), or suffered multiple burns (in 2002 and 2015). The team also consolidated previously collected data on the general ecology of these forests and their use by endemic cavity-nesting birds.
Year 2 emphasized data collection on soil chemistry, plant physiology, plant-atmospheric interactions, wildfire impacts on forest structure, and assessments of reptile and small mammal communities across the different forest types. As of February 2019, the project has concentrated on integrating collected data to evaluate the ecological and community impacts of both single and multiple burns, compared to unburned forests, and examining the regenerative capacity of burned forests. Planning for Phase 2 has also commenced, aiming for substantial data collection completion by the end of the second grant year (May 2019).
Year 3 will prioritize completing Phase 2 data collection and analysis, while integrating the findings from both phases to inform the planning for implementing a wildfire-specific version of The Rainforest Standard. Additional funding is being sought to fully execute Phases 2 and 3.
Upon project completion, the team aspires to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the causes and consequences of 21st-century wildfires in Chile’s temperate rainforests. They aim to develop and apply a fully implementable wildfire version of The Rainforest Standard in the Araucanía region, ultimately making it accessible to practitioners facing similar wildfire challenges in other parts of Chile and temperate forest regions globally, including the United States, Canada, and Europe.