A study published Wednesday in the journal Nature suggests that the way we approach wildfire responses around the world may be wrong: instead of reacting to wildfires by fighting them, communities should learn to live with them instead, for the health of the ecosystem around them.

Researchers of the study, led by Max Moritz, Cooperative Extension specialist in fire at UC Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources, reviewed the practices of wildfire prevention in the western United States, Australia, and Mediterranean countries. The team suggests that the key is to treat fires like other natural hazards by learning to coexist with them and recognizing vulnerabilities.

“We don’t try to ‘fight’ earthquakes — we anticipate them in the way we plan communities, build buildings and prepare for emergencies,” said Moritz in a recent statement. “We don’t think that way about fire, but our review indicates that we should. Human losses will only be mitigated when land-use planning takes fire hazards into account in the same manner as other natural hazards, like floods, hurricanes and earthquakes.”

According to the statement, the authors quickly realized that there are no “one-size-fits-all solutions” to wildfires. “Fuel reduction may be a useful strategy for specific places, like California’s dry conifer forests, but when we zoomed out and looked at fire-prone regions throughout the Western United States, Australia and the Mediterranean Basin, we realized that over vast parts of the world, a much more nuanced strategy of planning for coexistence with fire is needed,” said Moritz.

The study suggests prioritizing location-specific approaches to improving development and safety in areas where fires are most common, including: adopting new land-use regulations, updating building codes, and developing household and community guidelines for how to survive “stay-and-defend situations.”