The economic value of the agroforestry mosaic and potential cross-sector alliances will be the focus of a discussion organized by the Centre for the Study of Viticultural Landscapes (CEPvi)—with the support of the Catalonia School of Wine Tourism and the Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia—as part of the year’s second discussion session on the agroforestry mosaic.

he Fire Wine project, part of the EU-funded FIRE-RES initiative under Horizon 2020, is testing how vineyards can help reduce fire risk while also benefiting producers. Started in Catalonia, the project now includes wine regions in Spain, France, Portugal and Italy. It supports producers who use land management practices such as vegetation clearing, buffer strip maintenance and collaboration with local forestry services.

Wineries from Catalonia, Spain, France, Portugal, and Italy have joined Fire Wine, a project developed within the framework of the European FIRE-RES programme on technological innovation for wildfire prevention and the promotion of fire-resilient landscapes. The project was formally introduced on Tuesday during a seminar held in Vilafranca del Penedès. It is led by the Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia and aims to provide forest estates in winegrowing areas with tools to design and manage landscapes that are better prepared to withstand and contain wildfires. The opening session featured Marc Castellnou, chief inspector of the GRAF wildfire unit of the Catalan Fire Service, and Josep Roca, head sommelier at El Celler de Can Roca, who highlighted the role of vineyards and wine as buffers against fire.