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The GarMultiRisk project has analysed more than 1,000 natural events that have occurred in the region since 1900, with wildfires and earthquakes being the most frequent
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The new Natural Risk Reduction and Management Plan includes susceptibility and hazard maps, climate change scenarios, and recommendations on prevention, education, and monitoring
La Garrotxa – GarMultiRisk Project
The Centre per a la Sostenibilitat Territorial (CST), in collaboration with the scientific group of the Natural Risk Assessment and Management Service (NRAMS) at the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), has developed a Natural Risk Reduction and Management Plan for La Garrotxa region to improve risk management in the territory.
The plan, the result of the GarMultiRisk project carried out between October 2023 and July 2025, provides a roadmap for natural risk management actors in the county, based on the compilation of all events caused by different natural hazards that have occurred in La Garrotxa from 1900 to 2023. Data on floods, earthquakes, wildfires, rockfalls, landslides (unstable ground sliding downhill), and ground subsidences (collapses) were analysed. Volcanic hazard was also included in the study, although it was treated differently since no volcanic eruptions have occurred in the county during the considered time period. The compilation drew on inventoried data from official records, digitised historical press, scientific literature, and oral sources. In total, 1,049 events were identified, with wildfires and earthquakes being the most frequent.
This thorough data collection enabled the development of several susceptibility and hazard maps, which identify the areas and infrastructures in the county that are most exposed to these hazards, as well as anticipate the future evolution of wildfires and floods under different climate change scenarios. In addition, specific simulations were carried out to illustrate how wildfires, floods, earthquakes, and lava flows could spread across the territory.
The project also gathered, through questionnaires and discussion groups, the perception of natural risk among the population of La Garrotxa, as well as information on the needs and challenges in risk management as identified by technical staff, emergency professionals, and political representatives.
“The resulting Plan can contribute to a more integrated natural risk management approach, particularly useful in mountain contexts such as La Garrotxa, which are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. More efforts are needed in prevention to ensure better preparedness for potential natural risks. We therefore hope that the results of this project will serve as scientific evidence for the development of new policies, the revision and updating of existing ones, and their integration into the territorial planning of the region,” explains Marta López Saavedra, researcher at NRAMS (IDAEA-CSIC).
The Natural Risk Reduction and Management Plan therefore stands out for incorporating recommendations in four distinct areas: future scientific research; data collection networks (monitoring); education on natural risks; and risk management in its four phases (prevention, preparedness, emergency, and recovery).
The project has been led by the Centre for Territorial Sustainability (CST), in collaboration with the Consell Comarcal de la Garrotxa and the Consorci de Medi Ambient i Salut Pública de la Garrotxa (SIGMA). The scientific study has been conducted mainly by the Natural Risk Assessment and Management Service (NRAMS) at IDAEA-CSIC and has received financial support from the Fundación Biodiversidad.
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