The 2023 wildfires in British Columbia, Canada: impacts, drivers, and transformations to coexist with wildfire
Lori D. Daniels, Sarah Dickson‐Hoyle, Jennifer N. Baron, Kelsey Copes‐Gerbitz, Mike Flannigan, Dante Castellanos Acuna, Kira M. Hoffman, Mathieu Bourbonnais, SOPHIE WILKINSON, Dominik Röeser, Jill E. Harvey, Jocelyne Laflamme, Florencia Tiribelli, James Whitehead, Sonja E. R. Leverkus, Robert W. Gray
Abstract
In 2023, all regions of British Columbia (BC) experienced record-breaking fire weather and wildfires, with extreme behavior and social-ecological effects. In total, 2245 wildfires burned 2840 545 hectares. Contemporary wildfires are the culmination of a century of altered human–forest–wildfire relationships, exacerbated by climate change. Transformative change is urgently needed for the ecosystems and communities to be resilient to wildfire. We present six interrelated strategies needed to amplify the pace and scale of change in response to recent wildfire extremes: (1) Immediately diversify wildfire response strategies and restore the ecological and cultural role of fire in BC’s ecosystems. (2) Invest in suppression capacity at local and national scales. (3) Support innovations to overcome the economic barriers for mitigating risk and building resilience within communities and the wildland-urban interface. (4) Apply landscape fire management to drive a paradigm shift in forest management to increase ecological resilience to wildfire. (5) Transform wildfire governance to support collaborative and community-based solutions. (6) Strengthen expertise and capacity to uplift diverse ways of knowing, managing, and coexisting with fire. These strategies, combined with bold policy and governance changes and supported by sustained funding programs, provide a holistic approach to transform management and coexist with wildfire.