Current developments in the organisation and management of the prevention of forest fires addresses a line of work which will enable an in-depth insight into the interrelation between budgets invested and the results of those investments. Historically, budget management has never been subjected to an objective, scientific and justifiable procedure, but rather the process has been governed by expansive growth of costs and by demand, and in the majority of cases there has been no mid-term investment planning. When circumstances change and the availability of funds is restricted there is a under valuation in forest management which impedes the maintenance and availability of budgets on previous levels, and when this happens it is necessary to document and justify the request for public funds to deal with genuinely necessary costs. In this phase and with a view to finding an efficient and planned response to the problem, there is a need for a work tool which is able to integrate, not only factors associated with the variables of financial analysis but also the consideration of factors and parameters involved in the presence of forest fires in areas needing protection. This has motivated the instigation of a research programme to develop a model able to create a cohesive interest and relation of all the variables regarding relations and activities associated with the management of forest fire prevention schemes. The philosophy of development behind the model was to devise a solid and yet polyvalent basis for exportation of the model results so that although a specific area of land was taken to develop the models in its design, definition and experimental stages as well as for its application, the material obtained should permit its application to other zones, bearing in mind the necessary adaptations.
The importance of obtaining an initial model in Mediterranean areas which includes the results of the means of suppression and particularities of the suppression procedures used, such as the abilities of different forest systems to recover following the impact of fire, focuses on obtaining a model based on economic criteria of the procedure, or a work tool which aids assessment and planning in the application and monitoring of defence plans.
Execution of the project will include an investigation to determine objectively the relations between the options proposed by forest fire prevention programmes and the consequences reached in terms of cost and foreseeable loss in the quantity and the quality of resources which may be affected after the impact of fires. Therefore, it should be understood that the focus of the methodological process of the investigation will be the cost –benefit analysis applied to defence and protection programmes.
In order to establish the basic conditions it is necessary to make an in-depth analysis and to acknowledge the statistical basis for forest fires and to make the requisite connection of real fire data (conditions and particularities of the first attack and extended attack) originating in the specific zone chosen for the experiment.
The identifying features of the evaluation models, since they were first devised, have been conceived as management tools, thus the concepts and basics of pure investigation have been relegated to the phase of definition of instruments and requirements of economic nature. The development model will be presented in computerised format to facilitate calculation and so that operability is guaranteed and providing generalised application for users with direct responsibility in the organisation and management of fire-fighting programmes.
