4 Classifying the Forest Surfaces in Metropolitan Areas …
69
At this stage, it is successfully tested in the case of Durana metropolitan area, but
potentially it is applicable and reproducible on similar study areas at metropolitan
scale. Besides, its contribution to the open access science and research, this work is
expanding the spatial scale scope of WIPI/WSCI method by presenting its application
in metropolitan scale in which the sensitivity about wildfire events is highest. The
wildland–urban interface is the most vulnerable zone, consisting of the majority of
elements at risk. Thus, the method presented here contributes to the development of
useful methods in support of local level (metropolitan) DRR strategies being targeted
to be widely prepared by a considerable amount of countries by 2020 (UNISDR
2015).
As earlier introduced in this chapter, Albania is persistently showing significant
interest in participating and being involved within UNDRR agendas, but it remains
weak in implementation. For example, in 2017 both Mr. Nishani in his speech
(Nishani 2017) as well as the Sendai Framework Data Readiness Review Report
about the Albanian case (Albania 2017), are targeting the approval of a new law
which integrates the priorities, goals, and objectives of the Sendai Framework by
2019. Unfortunately, up to this date (July 30, 2019) the current law on civil emergencies being published on the official website of the government dates back to 2001.
Similarly, the current “National Plan for Civil Emergencies” was prepared 15 years
before in 2004 (Plani Kombetar per Emergjencat Civile 2004). Consequently, this
study is crucial in developing a method which may provide reliable results to support
the preparation of local strategic plans for DRR at metropolitan level.
In this study the method is applied via QGIS software, nevertheless it has also
potential application by using Google Earth Engine (Gorelick et al. 2017) in order
to generate global scale indexing maps of forest surfaces by their WIPI and WSCI
values. The web-based application could make the process of wildfire risk assessment
more inclusive as well as enhance the consciousness in the wider society about
wildfire hazard at a global scale. As it is reported in other Earth Engine applications
(Hansen et al. 2013; Pekel et al. 2016), such a work could be possible only through a
cross-disciplinary research group. In this respect, this chapter can be considered an
open call for collaboration in applying the method presented here, into the Google
Earth Engine.
References
Ahrend R, Gamper C, Schumann A (2014) The OECD metropolitan governance survey: a quantitative description of governance structures in large urban agglomerations. OECD Reg Dev Work
Pap 2014(4)
Albania (2017) Policy, plans & statements: national progress reports: Albania-Sendai framework data readiness review report. https://www.preventionweb.net/files/53183_albaniaalb.pdf.
Accessed 30 July 2019
Brown CE (1998) Coefficient of variation. In: Applied multivariate statistics in geohydrology and
related sciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, pp 155–157
Davis JB (1990) The wildland–urban interface: paradise or battleground? J For 88(1):26–31
69
At this stage, it is successfully tested in the case of Durana metropolitan area, but
potentially it is applicable and reproducible on similar study areas at metropolitan
scale. Besides, its contribution to the open access science and research, this work is
expanding the spatial scale scope of WIPI/WSCI method by presenting its application
in metropolitan scale in which the sensitivity about wildfire events is highest. The
wildland–urban interface is the most vulnerable zone, consisting of the majority of
elements at risk. Thus, the method presented here contributes to the development of
useful methods in support of local level (metropolitan) DRR strategies being targeted
to be widely prepared by a considerable amount of countries by 2020 (UNISDR
2015).
As earlier introduced in this chapter, Albania is persistently showing significant
interest in participating and being involved within UNDRR agendas, but it remains
weak in implementation. For example, in 2017 both Mr. Nishani in his speech
(Nishani 2017) as well as the Sendai Framework Data Readiness Review Report
about the Albanian case (Albania 2017), are targeting the approval of a new law
which integrates the priorities, goals, and objectives of the Sendai Framework by
2019. Unfortunately, up to this date (July 30, 2019) the current law on civil emergencies being published on the official website of the government dates back to 2001.
Similarly, the current “National Plan for Civil Emergencies” was prepared 15 years
before in 2004 (Plani Kombetar per Emergjencat Civile 2004). Consequently, this
study is crucial in developing a method which may provide reliable results to support
the preparation of local strategic plans for DRR at metropolitan level.
In this study the method is applied via QGIS software, nevertheless it has also
potential application by using Google Earth Engine (Gorelick et al. 2017) in order
to generate global scale indexing maps of forest surfaces by their WIPI and WSCI
values. The web-based application could make the process of wildfire risk assessment
more inclusive as well as enhance the consciousness in the wider society about
wildfire hazard at a global scale. As it is reported in other Earth Engine applications
(Hansen et al. 2013; Pekel et al. 2016), such a work could be possible only through a
cross-disciplinary research group. In this respect, this chapter can be considered an
open call for collaboration in applying the method presented here, into the Google
Earth Engine.
References
Ahrend R, Gamper C, Schumann A (2014) The OECD metropolitan governance survey: a quantitative description of governance structures in large urban agglomerations. OECD Reg Dev Work
Pap 2014(4)
Albania (2017) Policy, plans & statements: national progress reports: Albania-Sendai framework data readiness review report. https://www.preventionweb.net/files/53183_albaniaalb.pdf.
Accessed 30 July 2019
Brown CE (1998) Coefficient of variation. In: Applied multivariate statistics in geohydrology and
related sciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, pp 155–157
Davis JB (1990) The wildland–urban interface: paradise or battleground? J For 88(1):26–31