Assessing drought and drought-related wildfire risk in Kanjiza, Serbia: the SEERISK methodology

Climate changes alter the frequency and magnitude of a range of physical processes that often have negative consequences on life and property. Decision makers, local authorities and other end users are in need of tools and methodologies for assessing the risk of natural hazards in order to be able to design strategies for reducing it. The SEERISK project is an EU project that aims at the harmonization of risk assessment methodologies in southeast Europe. For this reason, a common risk assessment methodology has been developed and was applied in six case study areas. One of them is Kanjiža municipality in Serbia. Major environmental concerns in Kanjiža municipality include the occurrence of drought and drought-related wildfires. Between 2001 and 2012, 12 drought periods were registered, and between 2007 and 2012, 210 wildfire incidents were recorded. The direct and indirect estimated damage of these events exceeded 200 million Euros. Apart from the monetary loss related to these incidents, there were one victim and one injured person related to a wildfire event in this period. This study demonstrates an application of the SEERISK methodology for drought and drought-related wildfire risk assessment. The results show that more than 80 % of the area under study belongs to the very high and high-risk categories. The SEERISK methodology and its application provide a useful tool for wildfire risk assessment. Given the high priority on protecting human life, crops and environment, the methodology we present here could have wide application across Serbia as well as in other countries facing similar hazards.