Public lands as a mitigator of wildfire burned area using a spatio-temporal model applied in Sardinia

Key Points

• Fire incidence decreases significantly with increased public land presence, reducing total burned area.
• The study finds a 25% reduction in burned areas where public lands are prominent across various climate zones.
• Employing a spatio-temporal model, the analysis integrates multiple datasets on land use and fire events over the past decade.
• Results may encourage policies to expand public lands, bolstering wildfire mitigation efforts against climate change.