Chile’s 2016-2017 fire season was the worst in its history, with over 500,000 hectares of wildfires devastating cities, towns, and rural areas, including national parks and reserves. The social, economic, and health impacts were severe, underscoring the urgent need to better understand the causes and consequences of wildfires and implement innovative prevention strategies.
In response to this challenge, researchers from Columbia University and Chile’s Universidad Católica (UC) collaborated on a groundbreaking initiative supported by Columbia’s Presidential Global Innovation Fund and the Columbia Global Center Santiago. This partnership, launched in October 2017, aims to address three critical aspects of wildfire management:
- Understanding Causes: Investigating the climatic and human factors driving wildfires.
- Assessing Impacts: Examining ecological and socioeconomic consequences.
- Innovating Solutions: Applying The Rainforest Standard Protected Area Credits™ (RFS|PAC) system, a science-based financial mechanism designed to incentivize wildfire prevention.
The collaboration began with a week-long program of seminars, fieldwork, and strategic meetings in Santiago and southern Chile. Researchers engaged with key stakeholders, including Chile’s National Forest Corporation (Corporación Nacional Forestal, Conaf), the National Emergency Office (Oficina Nacional de Emergencia, Onemi), and private forestry sector representatives. These discussions led to the selection of research sites at Malleco National Park and Tolhuaca National Reserve and the development of a detailed three-year research plan.
Starting in March 2018, an interdisciplinary team of scientists and students from Columbia, UC, and partner institutions in the United States, Chile, and Canada will conduct the research. This team includes experts in wildfire assessment and modeling, ecology, biodiversity conservation, socio-economic and cultural analysis, and climate change adaptation.
The project is co-led by Columbia Professor Don Melnick, from the Center for Environment, Economy, and Society (CEES) and the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology (E3B), and UC’s Professor Cristián Bonacic, Chair of the Department of Ecosystems and the Environment. Their work will advance the scientific understanding of wildfires while proposing actionable strategies to protect Chile’s forests, biodiversity, and communities.
