ARVOHRES

The ARVOHRES project aims to shed light on the relationships between fire, environment, health risks, and medium- to long-term socio-economic impacts. The feedback loops between weather and vegetation fires are complex, making it difficult to understand environmental contamination from fire residues. This lack of knowledge creates uncertainty around chronic exposure to pollutants from fires and their health impacts. Socio-economic impacts are also poorly documented, mainly due to a lack of common indicators between affected regions and inadequate monitoring. ARVOHRES' methodology is based on interdisciplinary cooperation (physical and human geography, atmospheric physics and chemistry, biogeochemistry), collaboration between academia and civil society (universities, municipal institutions, and associations), and international partnerships (France, Chile, Brazil), organized into three work packages (WPs). WP1 will study atmospheric dynamics and chemical transport during fires to anticipate the conditions most favorable to the spread of pollutants and their deposition areas. WP2 will determine the type and geography of contaminants from wildfires to assess post-fire ecosystem quality and map pollution. Finally, WP3 will evaluate health exposure and socio-economic impacts to create a pollution exposure risk map, and socio-economic vulnerability indices. Two heavily fire-impacted sites will be monitored: Santa Juana in Chile and Chapada dos Guimarães in Brazil. Cooperation is underway with these municipalities, which are keen to receive scientific input and support. The comparison of these two sites will allow for the development of generalized guidelines, leading to practical outcomes such as risk communication, ecological and health prevention, and restoration efforts.