The Wildfire Primer
The Wildfire Primer by Nature Creative Commons is a series of graphic illustrations designed to communicate the ecological role of fire across different forest types, as well as contributors to catastrophic forest fires. Through conversations on debunking wildfire misinformation, the series evolved through expert feedback to communicate clear compelling visuals about fire’s natural function and behaviour variation across landscapes.
Developed in collaboration with forest experts at the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) and our Hummingbird network, the Wildfire Primer responds to oversimplified narratives that ignore fire’s significant ecological role. In this series we highlight fire as a regenerative force, essential to healthy forest systems.
NRDC & Hummingbird Collective
Our illustrated graphics show a spectrum of forests types to demonstrate varying forest and fire behaviour. In this Wildfire Primer we focused on four themes (illustrated through six graphics) each rooted in specific forest types: Boreal, Sub-Boreal, Ponderosa Pine, and Temperate Rainforests (both coastal and interior wetbelt). This work is ongoing as we build partnerships to develop more graphics on causes, impacts, and common misinformation around wildfire. Grounding the work in real landscapes (i.e. tree types, animals, fungi, and soil, all inform fire behaviour) helps to communicate the complexity and variation in fire behaviour. Each graphic is expanded via a text statement that contextualizes the visual, making the Wildfire Primer accessible to broad audiences, while visualizing and emphasizing ecological nuance.
See our work in action at Wildfire Strategies for a Warming Planet (NRDC).
Wildfire Primer Gallery
Wildfire Primer by Nature Creative Commons
Forest types are diverse, and so are their relationships with fire. In many forest types, fires are a regular, natural phenomenon. Forests differ across geographical contexts, which affects the natural fire behaviour within those forests. Understanding the unique relationships of different forest types to fire is key to managing these landscapes in a way that promotes natural resilience and ecological sustainability.
Over a century of forest mismanagement–including unsustainable logging, fire suppression and inappropriate thinning practices–has degraded forest landscapes and increased the risk of catastrophic fire (especially in the context of worsening climate impacts).
Natural forests are generally more resilient to catastrophic wildfire than unsustainably logged landscapes. Preserving diverse natural forests is a key to mitigating the risk of extreme wildfire.
Large standing dead and fallen trees often play a vital role in mitigating fire risk in old forests by effectively storing water. In addition to mitigating fire risk, large standing dead and fallen trees also store carbon and provide food and habitat for wildlife. Industrial logging often leaves large amounts of small, dry dead wood, heightening the risk of intense fires.