Higher wildfire incidence, severity and population exposure in protected areas within fire-prone Temperate and Mediterranean biomes

The European Union has recently passed the Nature Restoration Law (NRL) which, among others, seeks to increase the cover of forest reserves protected for biodiversity and, globally, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework similarly seeks to expand protected areas. Here we test whether a trade-off exists between protected areas expansion and fire activity, leading to a higher exposure to fire for the population in protected areas, because they often harbour more biomass and occur in remote areas. We analysed forest fires affecting 14,892,174 ha, and intersecting 10,999 protected areas, across fire-prone European Temperate and Mediterranean forest biomes, and in similar ecosystems within California, Chile and Australia. Protected areas were being disproportionally affected by fire within most Temperate biomes, and fire severity was 20% higher within protected areas also in Mediterranean biomes. Population in the periphery of forest areas was up to 16 times more likely to be exposed to large wildfires when their environment was within, or near, protected areas. Enhanced fire activity in protected areas was driven by a combination of fuel loads, accessibility and abiotic factors. Wildfire prevention and mitigation must be central goals in the development of the NRL and other conservation/restoration programs to diminish population exposure and fire severity.