Integrating Military and Civilian Efforts: Innovative Fire Management Strategies for Protecting High-Value Natural Sites

The project aims to develop and verify innovative practices for fire management in the context of nature and landscape conservation in an environment where military and civilian aspects intersect (“military-civil interface”). This research is crucial for the protection of natural sites with high environmental value, which are burdened by the consequences of previous military activities, whether it be training or direct military operations.

The research project responds to current security challenges, which include:  Ensuring environmental security, focusing on problems arising from key environmental processes and resource constraints. Predicting and preventing natural disasters through the development of new methods and technologies. Addressing the environmental impacts of military activities.

Abandoned and active military training areas are exposed to disruptive influences caused by the movement of military vehicles and the impact of ammunition. These areas, often secondary in origin, serve as important refuges for endangered species and open ecosystems, . The reduction of military activity leads to a gradual transformation of plant communities into a form threatening the environment for species dependent on open areas. In the context of direct military operations, the mentioned problem is even more complicated and can be considered, for example, in the context of demining initiatives. In response to these changes, it is necessary to carry out a specific form of management, although contamination by unexploded ordnance poses a challenge.  It includes laboratory testing of the ecosystem as fuel, thermal effects on selected components of ammunition, surveying and imaging of the terrain through UAV and UGV, modelling, and a large-scale experiment. For such a project, it is necessary to obtain suitable partners and an adequate testing area