Tropical Fire Management.pdf

Key developments in tropical forest fire management since the 1980s include:

ITTO's launch of a programme to encourage integrated, community-based approaches to tropical forest fire management after the 1982/83 fires in East Kalimantan.
Development of globally applicable guidelines on fire management in tropical forests and a project programme on fire management in ITTO member countries.
Establishment of models to support national-to-local fire management capabilities in several ITTO member countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Progress in implementing integrated fire management (IFM) approaches in countries such as Indonesia, Brazil, Benin, Guatemala, and Ghana.
Recognition of the need for more capacity to enforce IFM approaches, especially at the decentralized government level.
Development of a new guide for measuring and making use of the carbon benefits generated in forestry projects.

Country-specific initiatives include:

Indonesia: Training over 15,000 people in forest fire management and developing a more sustainable approach to fire management.
Brazil: Shifting from a paradigm of preventing fire at all costs to one that integrates fire into land-management regimes.
Benin: Raising awareness in villages near forests about the damage caused by uncontrolled fires and developing a strategy to prevent or minimize fires.
Guatemala: Pursuing IFM based on an improved understanding of fire ecology, socioeconomic factors, and the role of local communities.
* Ghana: Focusing on awareness-raising and community participation in fire management.

The ITTO Guidelines on Fire Management in Tropical Forests, published in 1997, have provided a starting point for policies and programmes to address socioeconomic and environmental problems related to fire in tropical forests. However, implementation remains a challenge, and more progress is needed to put a brake on wildfire.