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Mapping the Boundaries of Community Land in Mainland Portugal to Support Governance and Wildfire Hazard Assessment

2026Artigo científico Acesso aberto
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datacite.subject.fosCiências Naturais::Ciências da Terra e do Ambiente
datacite.subject.fosCiências Sociais::Geografia Económica e Social
datacite.subject.sdg04:Educação de Qualidade
datacite.subject.sdg13:Ação Climática
datacite.subject.sdg15:Proteger a Vida Terrestre
dc.contributor.authorSkulska, Iryna
dc.contributor.authorColaço, Maria Conceição
dc.contributor.authorRego, Francisco Castro
dc.contributor.authorPavel, Muha Abdullah Al
dc.contributor.authorAdão, Paulo
dc.contributor.authorCastro, José
dc.contributor.authorSequeira, Ana Catarina
dc.date.accessioned2026-05-25T13:15:49Z
dc.date.available2026-05-25T13:15:49Z
dc.date.issued2026
dc.description.abstractCommunity land management plays an important role in wildfire-prone landscapes in Mediterranean Europe. However, in Portugal, information on the spatial extent and boundaries of community land remains fragmented across multiple institutions. This study addresses a critical but often overlooked issue in wildfire management: the fragmentation of institutional data on community land boundaries in mainland Portugal and its direct implications for forest fire risk management, planning, and accountability. We harmonized georeferenced datasets from various government and public institutions, applying multi-institutional spatial integration supported by legal land use criteria using the Land Use Land Cover map 2018 (LULC2018). The resulting national map represents the first fully harmonized spatial assessment of community land (baldios) in mainland Portugal. Our results show that baldios currently occupy approximately 595 thousand hectares, significantly exceeding official estimates. Of this total, around 74% are under partial forest regime law, and approximately 76% are classified as having a high or very high wildfire hazard. This means that three out of every four hectares of baldios in mainland Portugal are structurally susceptible to extreme wildfire conditions. Beyond improving cartographic data, the study’s findings demonstrate how the lack of land registry weakens the institutional foundations for community-based wildfire management. Without a functional, legally validated national map of community land boundaries, responsibilities, co-management mechanisms, and prevention measures remain spatially inconsistent.eng
dc.description.sponsorshipThe authors acknowledge the financial support provided by FCT. I.S., M.C.C.,M.A.A.P and A.C.S. were funded by FCT through research contracts 2022.07317.CEECIND, https://doi.org/10.54499/2020.01072.CEECIND/CP1591/CT0004, and LA/P/0048/2020; M.P. was funded by a research grant from the COMMON BASES project (2023.14216.PEX). I.S., M.C.C., F.C.R., M.A.A.P and A.C.S. are affiliated with the Centre for Applied Ecology “Prof. Baeta Neves” (CEABN–InBIO, ISA, ULisboa), a research unit funded by FCT (UIDB/50027/2025). This work was initiated within the research project SAFER-LANDS—Unlocking collaborative wildfire risk management and improving the legal framework for safer community lands (baldios) (https://doi.org/10.54499/PTDC/GESAMB/0713/2021, during which a substantial part of the data was collected and was subsequently complemented through the COMMON-BASES project DOI https://doi.org/10.54499/2023.14216. PEX). The authors also acknowledge the technical support provided by the National Federation of Baldios (BALADI) and several baldios clusters for making their geographical data available. The authors also thank Juan Guerra and CEF-ISA for making the fuel models’ shapefiles available for use in this study
dc.identifier.citationSkulska, Iryna; Colaço, Maria Conceição; Rego, Francisco Castro; Pavel, Muha Abdullah Al; Adão, Paulo; Castro, José; Sequeira, Ana Catarina (2026). Mapping the Boundaries of Community Land in Mainland Portugal to Support Governance and Wildfire Hazard Assessment. Geographies. ISSN 2673-7086. 6:1, p. 1-21
dc.identifier.doi10.3390/geographies6010035
dc.identifier.issn2673-7086
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10198/36760
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherMDPI
dc.relationContribution of the rural populations and environmental education centers to create a program to re-learn to live with wildfires - 2020.01072.CEECIND/CP1591/CT0004
dc.relationRede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva (InBIO) - LA/P/0048/2020
dc.relationBase de dados sobre terrenos comunitários: Promoção do desenvolvimento rural sustentável e prevenção de incêndios em Portugal - 2023.14216.PEX
dc.relation.ispartofGeographies
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
dc.subjectCommunity land governance
dc.subjectCadastral harmonization
dc.subjectForest regime law
dc.subjectWildfire hazard
dc.subjectData fragmentation
dc.titleMapping the Boundaries of Community Land in Mainland Portugal to Support Governance and Wildfire Hazard Assessmenteng
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.awardNumber2020.01072.CEECIND/CP1591/CT0004
oaire.awardNumberLA/P/0048/2020
oaire.awardNumber2023.14216.PEX
oaire.awardTitleContribution of the rural populations and environmental education centers to create a program to re-learn to live with wildfires - 2020.01072.CEECIND/CP1591/CT0004
oaire.awardTitleRede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva (InBIO) - LA/P/0048/2020
oaire.awardTitleBase de dados sobre terrenos comunitários: Promoção do desenvolvimento rural sustentável e prevenção de incêndios em Portugal - 2023.14216.PEX
oaire.awardURIhttps://doi.org/10.54499/2020.01072.CEECIND/CP1591/CT0004
oaire.awardURIhttps://doi.org/10.54499/LA/P/0048/2020
oaire.awardURIhttps://doi.org/10.54499/2023.14216.PEX
oaire.citation.endPage21
oaire.citation.issue1
oaire.citation.startPage1
oaire.citation.titleGeographies
oaire.citation.volume6
oaire.fundingStreamCEEC IND 3ed
oaire.fundingStreamConcurso para Atribuição do Estatuto e Financiamento de Laboratórios Associados (LA)
oaire.fundingStreamConcurso de Projetos Exploratórios em Todos os Domínios Científicos 2023
oaire.versionhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyNameCastro
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person.identifier.ciencia-id8611-5EFE-2FCE
person.identifier.orcid0000-0003-4987-8175
person.identifier.scopus-author-id57212000778
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
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project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
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