Adverse Effects of Environmental Safeguarding Policies. The Case of Forest Fires in a Spatial and Socio-Economic anlysis Context

Forest fires are one of the main factors of environmental degradation, since they cause wildlife destruction, air pollution problems and consistently contribute to the threat of the hydrogeological equilibrium. For this reason, much effort is generally made to avoid their occurrence. Although a great deal of scientific literature on this issue exists, little progress has been made to help us understand and explain the reasons for their appearance. In this work we highlight how forest fires can also be the result of adverse effects of environmental policies such as those - as in our example - related to the management of the forest fires emergency. With regard to a specific case study area, represented by the Gargano National Park in Southern Italy, we attempt to observe the forest fires phenomenon related to some of the social and economic conditions existing in this area with the use of a panel data analysis. We find a significant statistical relationship between the number of forest fires and the unemployment level in the area. This result provides early evidence to argue that when environmental safeguarding policies are set up, it is important to take into consideration the socio-economic conditions existing in the area where they are to be implemented, if the probability of adverse effects are to be avoided.