Led by co-directors, Dr. Mathieu Bourbonnais (UBC Okanagan) and Dr. Lori Daniels (UBC Vancouver), the Centre will support innovative approaches and novel discoveries co-created in collaboration with other research experts, Indigenous Knowledge Keepers, government agencies, private landowners, and forest, fire, and land management professionals.

Given our new climate reality, holistic and transformative changes to fire and forest management are urgently needed to achieve ecosystem and community resilience, and learn to coexist with wildfire.

Some fire is essential for the maintenance of healthy forests

While the megafires seen within the past decade are unprecedented in their scale and intensity, fire still plays an important role in forest health and renewal. It removes dry, woody debris from the forest floor that can fuel more intense blazes. It also clears the way for renewed plant growth, supporting forest rejuvenation and overall health.

Reconstructions from tree rings reveal that low-severity fires once maintained diverse, resilient forests across much of BC’s interior region. These fires were ignited by both lightning and Indigenous fire stewardship.

Coexisting with wildfire represents a transformational shift in understanding of the ecological, cultural, and social benefits, in addition to costs, of fire. It encompasses a paradigm shift toward restoration of fire as a vital ecosystem process and Indigenous cultural practice, as well as proactive management to decrease risk and increase community resilience across diverse ecosystems.

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