ASEAN Association of
Southeast Asian Nations
BALTEX Baltic
Exercise on Fire Information and Resources Exchange
CCAD Central American Commission on Environment and
Development
CIHEAM International Centre
for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies
CILSS Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought
Control in the Sahel
COFO FAO Committee
on Forestry
CPF Collaborative
Partnership on Forests
ECE Economic
Commission for Europe
FAO Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
FRA Forest Resources Assessment (coordinated by
FAO)
GFMC Global Fire Monitoring
Center
IGADD Inter-Governmental
Authority for Drought and Development
ILO International Labour Organization of the United
Nations
INSARAG UN International Search
and Rescue Advisory Group
ISDR
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
ITTO International Tropical Timber
Organization
IUCN World Conservation
Union
OCHA Organization for the
Coordination of Human Affairs
SADC
Southern Africa Development Community
UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development
UNECE United Nations
Economic Commission for Europe
UNEP
United Nations Environment Programme
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization
UNFF United
Nations Forum on Forests
UNU United
Nations University
WB World
Bank
WHO World Health
Organization
WWF World Wide Fund for Nature
1. The International Expert Meeting on Forest Fire Management, organised by FAO in cooperation with the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO), was held at FAO Headquarters in Rome from 7 to 9 March 2001.
2. The meeting was held in follow-up to the FAO meeting on Public Policies Affecting Forest Fires, held in Rome in October 1998, which identified the need for support to the development of regional and bilateral Agreements for collaboration in forest fire management, including identification of technical and financial inputs; improved sharing of information and knowledge, and support to strengthened technical cooperation among developing countries i.a. through networking and twinning; and identification of the roles which FAO and other international organisations could play in this regard, including technical assistance, institutional support and capacity-building.
3. Organization of an international expert meeting on forest fires was, further, recommended in the consultancy report, "Proposals for Strengthening FAO's Role Regarding Forest Fire Management" (FAO 2000)1.
4. The specific objectives of the meeting were to:-
(i) Examine the need and capacity of concerned member countries in predicting, preventing, managing and fighting forest fires;
(ii) Identify countries that have such capacity, and the period of the year when they could put know-how and equipment at the disposal of others who might need it;
(iii) Identify countries that could potentially utilise the capacity available with others during a relevant period of the year; and
(iv) Explore the possibility of organizing the necessary logistics and compensation in inter-country arrangements of this kind.
On the basis of findings in (i) to (iv) above, the experts were to recommend action related to:-
(v) Development of human resources and mechanisms needed to support cooperation in forest fire management and control, mainly at bilateral, regional and, eventually, international levels; and
(vi) Mechanisms for the establishment of inter-country Agreements among groups of two or more countries, aimed at coordinating efforts to establish norms and to share resources, personnel and equipment in situations of emergency. This would include review of the feasibility to share heavy land and aerial equipment, and on prospects for developments on a wider geographic basis.
The Experts would, further:-
(vii) Help identify the role of international organizations in promoting the work in points (i) to (vi).
5. The Agenda of the meeting is given in Annex 1.
6. The attendance in the Expert Meeting is detailed in Annex 2. The eighteen experts, from 14 countries, invited by the Director-General of FAO, were selected on the basis of their specialised knowledge and their familiarity with policies, practices, databases, monitoring procedures and dialogue in international, regional and national forest fire management. The experts served in their personal capacity and not as representatives of their governments or organizations.
7.Participants in the meeting included resource persons from each of FAO and ITTO as the two co-sponsoring agencies and international NGOs including IUCN/WWF and GFMC. Regrets were received from Unesco, the World Bank, UN/ECE and the UN University. UNEP, WHO and CIFOR were unable to attend.
8. A number of FAO staff members from other units of the Forestry, Legal, Agriculture and the Sustainable Development Departments, attended the Opening and some of the sessions of the meeting.
9. Mr. M. Hosny El-Lakany, Assistant Director-General, Forestry Department, welcomed the participants to the International Expert Meeting on Forest Fire Management on behalf of the Director-General of FAO, Mr. Jaques Diouf.
10. Mr. El-Lakany noted that the meeting was organized by FAO in collaboration with the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). He expressed the appreciation of FAO for the continuing, constructive collaboration with ITTO as a long-standing partner in the forestry field.
11. Mr. El-Lakany noted that the recent occurrence of extensive forest fires in different parts of the world had deepened the concern of policy makers, technicians and scientists, the general public, and the mass media alike.
12. He mentioned that causes, extent and effects of forest fires were related not only to climatic and environmental conditions, but also to national policies, laws and institutions.
13. He stressed that people used fire because they expected to obtain benefits from its use. The problem was not so much in its use as in its management. The overall goal of a policy on fire had to be focused on reducing adverse effects. Fires constituted a serious threat not only to the environment and human livelihoods, but also to human life. Conversely, fire was an important phenomenon in the dynamics of most ecosystems, and an essential tool in human management of such systems.
14. Mr. El-Lakany referred to the meeting on Public Policies Affecting Forest Fires mentioned above, in which several of the participants attended. He re-iterated the findings of the Public Policies meeting that emergency responses only to suppress forest fires were not adequate by themselves; and that the key lay in forging links between sustainable land use policies and practices on the one hand and emergency preparedness on the other. He noted that, ultimately, private owners and local people must be intimately involved in the development and implementation of strategies and methodologies; involvement of all stakeholders was essential for success in forest fire prevention, prediction, suppression and monitoring.
15. Co-operation between sectors at national level and between countries at international level was becoming increasingly important. Recent large-scale fires throughout the world had resulted in instances of countries assisting neighbouring countries on an ad hoc basis. Such cooperation could be significant also in establishing shared databases, strengthening policy-making capabilities, and developing institutional and legislative frameworks.
16. Mr. El-Lakany noted that FAO had over the past years been active in the field of forest fire management, through support to member countries in policy level dialogue, the collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of information and know-how, the updating of forest fire terminology, and the development of methodologies and strategies related to early warning, prevention, management, control and remedial action following forest fires- i.e. rehabilitation. In this work, FAO had closely collaborated with national institutes in member countries, and with a number of international partners.
17. In line with its mandate, FAO planned to strengthen its work in the field of forest fire management in the coming years. In this regard, FAO will continue to support countries to strengthen national capacities and capabilities, and, in collaboration with international partners, support the sharing of information and know-how among countries.
18. Mr. El-Lakany stressed that in line with the objectives, the meeting should help review and support the development of mechanisms for the establishment of inter-country Agreements aimed at cooperation and collaboration between countries and, where feasible, the development of bilateral arrangements by which countries might share resources, personnel and equipment in situations of emergency. Requests from countries for this kind of support clearly indicated that as forest fire management issues were of utmost importance in achieving sustainable forest management, FAO and other agencies had to support countries to respond to these challenges.
19. In closing, Mr. El-Lakany noted that the conclusions, recommendations and action plans to be developed by the present expert meeting would be made available to the 15th Session of the Committee on Forestry to be held in Rome during 12-16 March, 2001. Recommendations of COFO would, subsequently, be incorporated into the FAO work programme, including forthcoming initiatives related to forest fire management.
20. The representative of ITTO, Mr. Efransjah, joined Mr. El-Lakany in welcoming the forest fire experts and participants to the meeting and acknowledged the close working relationship with FAO in key issues relating to sustainable forest management. He concurred with the statements of Mr. El-Lakany on the major constraints and inadequacies in forest fire management.
21.Mr. Efransjah emphasized the challenge to synergize the work of all international institutions in order to better respond to the needs of member countries in forest fire management, including prevention. He mentioned the ITTO Guidelines on Fire Management in Tropical Forests as one of the key references under preparation by FAO, of guidelines for temperate and boreal forests. Mr. Efransjah noted that ITTO had redefined its role in forest fire management in light of the recent major fires in Indonesia and SE Asia. ITTO had a policy of collaborating and participating in inter-agency initiatives on forest fire management; he suggested that the expert meeting prepare a concrete plan of action to prioritize the support needed to serve countries and strengthen capacity and response to forest fire management. He looked forward to collaboration with FAO and other international agencies in supporting achievable initiatives that would make immediate and major impacts in forest fire management.
22. The meeting elected Mr. Ricardo Vélez Muñoz Chair; and Mr. Johann G. Goldammer and Mr. Samsudin Musa Vice-Chairs. Mr. Jan Troensegaard acted as Rapporteur. Ms. Christel Palmberg-Lerche, Mr. J.B. Carle, Mr. M. Paveri and Ms. G. Allard served in the Secretariat of the meeting.
23. The Provisional Agenda as proposed by the Secretariat was adopted (see Annex 1).
24. Mr El Hadji Sène, Director, Forest Resources Division, Forestry Department, FAO, re-iterated that there had been a dramatic increase in the incidence and impacts of fire in recent years, however, the responses for suppression had been inadequate and often ad hoc. He outlined the objectives, outputs, format and content of the present expert meeting. Background documentation for the meeting were highlighted with special reference to the consultancy report "Proposals for Strengthening FAO's Role Regarding Forest Fire Management", mentioned above; technical papers by FAO, ITTO and other organisations made available; case studies prepared in advance by experts; Agreements and operational plans used by collaborating countries, and submissions by international agencies in line with the objectives of the meeting. Mr Sène concluded by stressing the need for cooperative and collaborative approaches in preparation of components of an action plan, with particular reference to capacity building and mechanisms in forest fire management and legal instruments for emergency responses. He emphasized that FAO was seeking expert advice on the key issues and recommendations for both immediate and longer term implementation and working groups were designed to facilitate these outputs (see Annex 3 and Annex 4).
25. The experts noted that many previous consultations and meetings on forest fire management had consistently developed a number of recommendations which still awaited effective implementation. What was urgently needed today was an action plan specifying responsibilities and time frames for completion of the tasks at hand.
26.Stressing that forest fire management was an integral component of sustainable forest and land management, the experts noted the following:
(i) The FAO Meeting on Public Policies Affecting Forest Fires, 1998, recommended that countries adopt sustainable forest and land use policies and practices to manage the flammability of forests;
(ii) The vital existing roles and potential for the participation of communities in forest and vegetation fire management was a critical consideration for sustainability;
(iii) If sustainable forest management practices were not established, then emergency responses of any kind would ultimately fail;
(iv) On-going international criteria and indicators processes for sustainable forest management included indicators related to forest fires and the FAO coordinated Global Forest Resources Assessment database was being expanded to incorporate sustainability indicators;
(v) Widespread emergencies in recent years in all regions of the world underscored the importance of having fire management cooperation and international Agreements on mutual assistance and emergency response established in advance of fires;
(vi) Prevention implied the actions in the fields of public awareness, equipment and infrastructure, enforcement and fire fuel management;
(vii) There was an urgent necessity for countries to activate strong and effective fire prevention measures. It was better to prevent a wildfire than fight one; and
(viii) Member countries needed to develop effective emergency response procedures internally, so that they could more effectively receive and efficiently use outside assistance.
27. The experts noted that unmanaged and unplanned forest and other vegetation fires had negative impacts on human health and livelihoods, availability of forest products and services, biological diversity, and possibly climate change. In spite of allocation of increased resources, the number, scale and impact of forest and vegetation fires had increased in many countries in recent times.
28. The experts further noted that existing national organisations and international agencies and mechanisms, some of them with long-standing and significant experience, had struggled to address the complexities and problems of forest fire management. In spite of this, much of the work and efforts of reviews, missions, studies and development of new international structures had not translated effectively into meaningful and sustained improvement in the management of forest fires around the world.
29. The experts stressed that the main reasons identified for the above situation were:
(i) Lack of national land-use and fire policies and their implementation, and lack of recognition and compliance with related international processes and conventions;
(ii) Low level of awareness among policy makers, decision makers and the public, which led to institutions lacking adequate resources, focus and capacity;
(iii) Insufficient human resource capability in most aspects of forest fire management due to inadequate education and training;
(iv) Inadequate awareness, dissemination and understanding of existing information and experiences, lack of socialisation of information and know-how (e.g. early warning systems, use of prescribed fire);
(v) Lack of basic quantitative and qualitative information and data, which provided a relevant, useful and often necessary basis for the interpretation and meaningful analysis and use of forest fire statistics;
(vi) Lack of appropriate bilateral and multi-lateral Agreements for mutual assistance prior to fire emergency events.
30. The experts recognized the fundamental requirement for effective sustainable forest and land management policies and practices. To achieve this objective, an overriding priority was the establishment of Agreements, protocols and institutional capacity to better share international fire management resources, knowledge and understanding.
31. The Expert Meeting requested FAO, ITTO and collaborating agencies, to support action as set out in recommendations below:
32. Policy
(i) Identify relevant existing policy instruments, mechanisms and networks which could support and strengthen commitment and action on forest fire management; and
(ii) Support activities that bring local people, professionals and policy makers together and build awareness and capacity.
33. Technical Support
(i) Facilitate networking and collaboration between countries through identifying or creating national focal points;
(ii) Exchange experiences through institutional collaboration;
(iii)Provide technical support to enhance management of forest resources that include fire prevention measures as an integral part of such action;
(iv) Improve capacity and capability to prepare for forest fires, particularly in countries that have existing gaps in attributes such as laws, policy, planning, practices and monitoring;
(v)Catalyze action in providing technical support to member countries in development of Agreements3 at bilateral and regional levels (see Annex 5. and Annex 6.);
(vi)Strengthen in-house human and non-staff resources to respond to increasing issues and actions in forest fire management.
34. Information and Data Bases
(i) Make information available on techniques, networks, resources, collaboration and approaches to forest fire management;
(ii) Develop a data standard within the Forest Resource Assessment framework to address the requirements of national and international fire management reporting needs;
(iii) Review on-going activities in forest fire management by international and regional organisations to clarify linkages, facilitate collaboration and identify gaps. Key factors are land use policies and practices, community based fire management, knowledge, training, public awareness, institutional arrangements;
(iv) Synthesize and support the preparation of country profiles which provide international collaborators and donors an insight into institutional set-up and operational responsibilities at national level, as well as basic information without which outside assistance will not be effective or even possible. Aspects in such country profiles to include reference to: political will, governance, security, socio-economic, climate, vegetation, demography, resources (personnel, equipment, funds, information and infrastructure);
(v) Establish an international forest fire information centre to facilitate the sharing of world-wide information among all partners regarding such issues as: Agreements, resource availability, contacts at regional, eco-regional, global levels, etc. This centre should provide real-time situation reports and conditions. In addition, the centre should be institutionalised in order to play an advisory role in assisting countries to develop Agreements and respond to emergencies.
35. Emergency Response Agreements
(i) Develop emergency response Agreements bilaterally and multilaterally (at regional or global levels, as appropriate); details will vary depending on considerations that may vary from region to region;
(ii)Encourage forest fire management cooperation, and catalyze and support the development of new emergency response Agreements, making full use of already existing regional and other mechanisms, such as those in the CILSS, SADC, Mediterranean, Baltic, South-East Asia, Central America, Caribbean, South America and other regions, as yet to be identified;
(iii)Compile an inventory of existing emergency response Agreements to serve as models for others. Guidelines or models should be prepared for developing such Agreements and related operating plans and protocols. FAO could distribute a questionnaire soliciting opportunities for new Agreements;
(iv) Activate a task force to track and monitor progress in the development of Agreements and collaboration and develop a detailed action plan that defines time frames, responsibilities and costs to implement the recommendations of the International Expert Meeting4;
(v)Develop funding mechanisms to encourage vigorous action that leads to the development of emergency response Agreements;
(vi)Establish compatible incident management organisation systems in countries to facilitate the integration of international resources; such mechanisms need to be compatible between them, but do not need to be identical;
(vii)Review and expand a "Fire Season Table", for all countries to show complementing and overlapping fire seasons; the purpose of this information would be to determine availability of resources from other countries, in cases of emergency (example given in Annex 7.);
(viii) Continue and strengthen the update and dissemination of forest fire management related information in collaboration with organizations to be determined;
(ix)Develop training and briefing programmes for emergency response teams, based upon on-going experiences; and
(x)Catalyze and support the development of emergency simulation response exercises among countries prior to emergency situations arising.
36. Collaborating Agencies
(i)Participate in the existing initiatives and mechanisms such as the Interagency Task Force Working Group on Wildland Fire of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR)5; the United Nations International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG)6; the Joint United Nations OCHA/UNEP Environment Unit7, the Global Fire Monitoring Centre (GFMC), and actively support the development of their programmes, and facilitate linkages within the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) 8; and
(ii) Prepare a preliminary action plan and time schedule (initially without prioritization) for implementing the above recommendations (see Annex 8.).
FAO Headquarters, Rome (Italy)
Philippine Room (C277/281) - 7 to 9 March 2001
AGENDA
Wednesday 7 March
08.30 Registration
09.30 Opening of the Meeting (Introductory Statements by FAO and ITTO)
10.00 Election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman, adoption of Agenda
10.10 Introduction by FAO: objectives, working arrangements, expected outputs
10.20 Introduction of participants
10.30 Coffee
11.00 Presentation of Special Study on Forest Fires prepared within the framework of the Forest Resources Assessment Programme (R.B. Mutch, J.G. Goldammer)
11.20 Discussion
11.40 Report on Consultancy "Proposals for Strengthening FAO's Role Regarding Forest Fire Management" (J. Troensegaard)
12.00 Discussion
12.30 Lunch
14.00 Interventions by experts and resource persons on key action of relevance to meeting objectives
15.30 Coffee
16.00 Reports on International Agency activities and collaboration
17.45 Reception (Aventino Room, 8th Floor Bldg B)
Thursday 8 March
09.00 Joint Session : discussion of issues to be addressed by Working Groups. Division into two Working Groups
09.30 Working Group Sessions9
15.30 Joint Session: Presentation work by the two Working Groups
16.00 Discussion on Working Group reports
Friday 9 March
a.m. Report writing
14.00 Discussion of draft Conclusions and Recommendations
15.30 Coffee
16.30 Closing
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
Mr Panagiotis K. Balatsos
Senior
Member
Directorate of Forest Protection
Dept. of Forest Fire
Prevention
& Suppression
General Secretariat for Forests
and the
Natural Environment
Ministry of Agriculture
Ippokratous 3-5
10164
Athens
Greece
Tel: +301 2124694
Fax: +301 3614015
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr Million Bekele
Team Leader for
Forest and Wildlife
Ministry of Agriculture
P.O. Box
62347
Kasainchis
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 1 55085
Fax: +251 1 518977
Mr Oscar Cedeño S.
Director de
Protección Forestal
Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y
Recursos Naturales
(SEMARNAT)
Av. Progreso No. 5, Col. del Carmen
Coyoacán 04100
Mexico,
DF
Tel: +52 55540612
Fax: +52 55547097
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr Efransjah
Projects Manager (Asia
& Pacific)
Reforestation and Forest Management
International Tropical
Timber
Organization (ITTO)
International Organizations Center
5F
Pacifico-Yokohama, 1-1-1 Minato-Mirai
Japan
Tel: +81 45 223
1110
Fax: +81 45 223 1111
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr Johann G.
Goldammer
Head
Global Fire Monitoring Center
(GFMC)
International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (ISDR)
c/o
Freiburg University
P.O. Box
D-79085 Freiburg
Germany
Tel: +49 761
808011
Fax: +49 761 808012
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr Johan P. Heine
Manager, Forest
Fire Association
P.O. Box 4555
West Acres, Nelspruit 1200
South
Africa
Tel: +27 12 7411030
Fax: +27 12 741 1935
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr Mustafa Kizmaz
Director of
Research and Planning
Research Planning and Coordination
Department
General Directorate of Forestry
Ankara
Turkey
Tel:
+90 312 223 4505
Fax: +90 312 222 7336
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr P.F. Moore
Coordinator, IUCN/WWF
Project FireFight
P.O. Box 6596JKPWB
Jakarta
Indonesia
Tel: +62 251
622 622
Fax: +62 251 622 100
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr Samsudin Musa
Senior Research
Officer
Natural Forest Division
Forest Research Institute
Malaysia
Kepong
52109 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Tel: +603
62702347
Fax: +603 62779643
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr Robert W. Mutch
Fire Management
Consultant
4118 Colonial Lane
Missoula, Montana 59804
U.S.A.
Tel: +1
406 5427402
Fax: +1 406 3294877
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr Davide Pontani10
Direzione Generale delle
Risorse
Forestali, Montane ed Idriche
Divisione 12a
Via G. Carducci, 5
00187
Rome
Italy
Tel: +39 06 85856630
Fax: +39 06 85856084
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr Patricio I. Sanhueza
Chief, Fire
Operations
Fire Management Department
Corporación Nacional Forestal
(CONAF)
Ministry of Agriculture
Avenida Bulnes 285, Of.
201
Santiago
Chile
Tel: +56 2 390 0180-0181
Fax: +56 2 699
4605
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr Richard Sneeuwjagt
Manager Fire
Protection
Dept. of Conservation and
Land Management, West Australia
17
Dick Perry Drive
Kensington
W. Australia 6152
Fax: +61 8
93679913
Tel: +61 8 93340375
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr Ronaldo V. Soares
Professor on
Forest Fire Management
Forestry School - UFPR
Av. Lothario Meissner
3400
80210-170 Curitiba, PR
Brazil
Tel: +55 41 360 4229
Fax: +55 41
360 4209 / 360 4221
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr Brian J. Stocks
Senior Research
Scientist
Forest Fire and Global Change
Canadian Forest Service
Natural
Resources Canada
1219 Queen St. East
Sault Ste. Marie, ON
P6A5M7
Canada
Tel: +1 705 759 5740 x 2181
Fax: +1 705 759
5712
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr Jan Troensegaard
JANTRO Forestry
Consulting
Herningvej 51
7800 Skive
Denmark
Tel: +45 97 53
4333
Fax: +45 97 534202
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr Ricardo Vélez
Jefe, Area de
Defensa contra
Incendios Forestales
Dirección General de Conservación
de la Naturaleza
Ministerio de Medio Ambiente
Gran Vía de San
Francisco, 4
28008 Madrid
España
Tel: +34 91 3665104
Fax: + 34 91
3658379
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr Gavriil Xanthopoulos
Advisor to
the Minister
Ministry of Public Order
Natural Resource Technologies
Consulting
31 Mouson str.
Athens, 17562
Greece
Tel: +30 1
9889295
Fax: +30 1 9816221
E-mail: [email protected]
FAO11
Mr E.H. Sène
Director, Forest
Resources Division
Forestry Department
FAO
Viale delle Terme di
Caracalla
I-00100 Rome, Italy
Tel. 39-0657055978
Fax.
39-0657055137
E-mail: [email protected]
Ms Gillian Allard
Forestry Officer
(Protection)
Forest Resources Development Service
Forest Resources
Division
Forestry Department
FAO
Viale delle Terme di
Caracalla
I-00100 Rome, Italy
Tel. 39-0657053373
Fax.
39-0657055137
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr J.B. Carle
Senior Forestry
Officer (Plantations
and Protection)
Forest Resources Development
Service
Forest Resources Division
Forestry Department
FAO
Viale
delle Terme di Caracalla
I-00100 Rome, Italy
Tel. 39-0657055296
Fax.
39-0657055137
E-mail: [email protected]
Ms Christel Palmberg-Lerche
Chief,
Forest Resources Development Service
Forest Resources Division
Forestry
Department
FAO
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
I-00100 Rome,
Italy
Tel. 39-0657053841
Fax. 39-0657055137
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr M. Malagnoux
Forestry Officer
(Arid Zone and Fuelwood)
Forest Conservation, Research and
Education
Service
Forest Resources Division
Forestry
Department
FAO
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
I-00100 Rome,
Italy
Tel. 39-0657053213
Fax. 39-0657055137
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr M. Paveri
Chief, Forestry Policy
and Institutions Branch
Forest Policy and Planning Division
Forestry
Department
FAO
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
I-00100 Rome,
Italy
Tel. 39-0657052196
Fax. 39-0657055137
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr A. Mekouar
Senior Legal
Officer
Development Law Service
Legal Office
FAO
Viale delle Terme
di Caracalla
I-00100 Rome, Italy
Tel. 39-0657055612
Fax.
39-0657053152
E-mail: [email protected]
The working group addressed issues, constraints and recommended actions to strengthen existing mechanisms, networks and institutional capacity (including human resource development) to enhance cooperation and collaboration in forest fire management at bilateral, regional and international levels. The role of national, regional and international agencies were taken into consideration.
Working Group 1 - Members
Goldammer, J.G. (Germany)
Moore, P.F.
(IUCN/WWF)
Musa, S. (Malaysia)
Pontani, D. (Italy)
Stocks, B. J.
(Canada)
Troensegaard, J. (Denmark)
Viana Soares, R.
(Brazil)
Xanthopoulos, G. (Greece)
Efransjah (ITTO)
Sène, E. H. (FAO,
Director, FOR)
Palmberg-Lerche, C. (FAO, Chief, FORM)
Carle, J. B. (FAO,
FORM)
Observer (part time)
Mr. Dario
Morini (see Footnote 8)
Major Constraints and Challenges - Why?
Some of the main reasons identified for the above situation were:
Recommended Actions - How to overcome?
FAO/ITTO were requested to support the work with relevant agencies as set out in the following points:-
Collaborating agencies (co-ordinating with existing initiatives and mechanisms) - Who?
Noting that a large number of institutes, agencies and mechanisms were active in the field of forest fires, operating at various levels and with different foci, scope, and level of resources, FAO and ITTO, together with partners should discuss and review forest fire-related initiatives, activities and arrangements. These included, among others,
International agencies and organizations, such as:
International mechanisms, such as:
Regional mechanisms or policy frameworks, such as:
Scheduling and Cost
Estimates
The Group recognised the need to develop a time scale for recommended priority action, and to develop corresponding cost estimates or approximations, the Group requested that FAO, in collaboration with ITTO and other international partners, develop a provisional framework plan for further discussion and elaboration.
