Jorge Felez-Bernal: Pyro-geography and Geomatics as a Means to Engage with Communities Affected by Forest Fires

In this episode of Smart Forests Radio, we talk with Jorge Felez-Bernal. Jorge is a Geographer, with a postgraduate degree in Environmental Engineering and a Master in Geographic Information Technologies for Spatial Planning. Since 2018, he is pursuing a PhD program in Spatial Planning and Environment, at the University of Zaragoza, Spain. In 2009 he came to live in Concepción, Chile from his native Spain. He has worked professionally at the Center and Faculty of Environmental Sciences of the University of Concepción. Institution where he also teaches and directs the Diploma in Geographic Information Technologies for Land Management . In the interview, Jorge tells us that he has been able to develop projects of linkage with the environment and technical assistance, mainly for different entities of the Chilean State, where he has been able to verify the national reality of the socio-environmental problems related to land management. Including a cadastre of indigenous land claims in the provinces of Arauco, Malleco, Cautín and Valdivia. This allowed him to understand in greater depth the implications and consequences of the Chilean forestry model , especially those related to fires and fire as an instrument of territorial dispossession.