Table 4 Primary emergent themes from expert interviews and Mediterranean literature review on local knowledge and fire experience. These themes are interpreted as enablers or barriers to fire adaptive capacity. Blank cells in the literature column indicate that no literature was found on the subject, though it was discussed in interviews. Blank cells in the interview column demonstrate that these themes were explored in the literature, but not the interviews. We additionally include the area of literature study to illustrate the precise geographies of the findings

Enablers

Existing socially valued local fire knowledge

(Fernández-Giménez and Estaque 2012; Coughlan 2013; Guadilla-Sáez et al. 2019; Casazza et al. 2021)

Aragon Pyrenees, Spain; French Western Pyrenees; Cantabria, Spain; Monte Pisano, Italy

Experience with fires in recent memory

(Concu et al. 2021)

Sardinia, Italy

Sensitivity to other risks and local climate change

(Bouisset et al. 2018a, b)

French Atlantic Pyrenees

Perception of landscape health as motivator for management

(Thomas et al. 2022)

France (including Occitanie)

Understanding historic land use effect on territory (ie. rural abandonment, agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry, effect of wars, dictatorships and industrialization)

(Otero et al. 2013; Seijo et al. 2015)

Tordera River Basin, Catalonia; Central Spain;

Understanding of current land use alliances for fire management (ie. sustainable agriculture, extensive livestock, sustainable forestry, responsible recreation/tourism, environmental activism, hunting associations, renewable energies)

(Otero et al. 2018; Aquilúe et al. 2020; Wunder et al. 2021)

Tordera River Basin, Catalonia; Catalonia, Spain; Mediterranean Europe

Some environmentalist frameworks encourage forest management

(Castelló and Montagut 2019)

Catalonia, Spain

Barriers

Local knowledge deemed unfit with current conditions

(Agnoletti 2007; Arnould and Calugaru 2008; Lambert 2010; Ribet 2013; Coughlan 2013; Amici et al. 2015)

Tuscany, Italy; French Mediterranean; French Eastern Pyrenees, French Eastern Pyrenees; French Atlantic Pyrenees; Tuscany, Italy

Cultural origins of landscapes ignored

(Clément 2005; Coughlan 2014; Amici et al. 2015; Agnoletti et al. 2022)

Mediterranean Europe; French Western Pyrenees; Tuscany, Italy; Tuscany, Italy

Professionalization of fire sector sidelines local knowledge

(Ribet 2013; González-Hidalgo et al. 2014; Otero and Nielsen 2017)

French Eastern Pyrenees; Tarragona, Catalonia; Catalonia, Spain

Biodiversity and local knowledge loss

(Huffman 2013; Amici et al. 2015; Casazza et al. 2021; Agnoletti et al. 2022)

International (including Europe); Tuscany, Italy; Monte Pisano, Tuscany; Tuscany, Italy

Some environmentalism opposes forest management

(González-Hidalgo et al. 2014; Subirós et al. 2015; Bidegain et al. 2020)

Tarragona, Catalonia; Alta Garrotxa, Catalonia; Andalucía, Spain

Not discussed

Some local knowledge based on large social inequalities. Need to learn from but not replicate patterns (Otero et al. 2013)

Tordera River Basin, Catalonia

Not discussed

Women and immigrants play important but often unrecognized roles in maintaining rural agriculture socioecosystems (Laurent 2013; Fernández-Giménez et al. 2022; Farinella et al. 2017)

French Mediterranean; Spain; Italy & Greece

Not discussed

Ownership of low value assets like woodlands and pasture do not influence fire prevention uptake (Concu et al. 2021)

Sardinia, Italy