GFMC Global Wildland Fire Assessment

 


Introduction

In the years 2000-2001 the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) conducted a global survey on forest fires. The “Global Forest Fire Assessment 1990-2000” was an element of the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 (FRA-2000). The major part of the narrative of the Global Forest Fire Assessment was compiled and authored by the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) and included national fire reports and regional to global summary assessments. The full report has been published by the FAO in 2001 and is also available on the GFMC website.

For the purpose of establishing a global wildland fire database, the GFMC is now reactivating the concept of the Global Vegetation Fire Inventory (GVFI) which was designed in the 1990s but never implemented in full coverage. The Global Wildland Fire Assessment 2004 builds on the earlier proposals of the GVFI. Its scope, however, has been broadened, e.g. to serve the needs of users interested in the consequences of fire on biodiversity and conservation-related issues, the application of prescribed fire, or calendars on pyrogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, etc.

The Global Wildland Fire Assessment 2004 will be implemented through the Regional Wildland Fire Networks organized under the Global Wildland Fire Network (GWFN). National focal points and regional network coordinators / facilitators are involved. Other countries that are not yet formally associated with regional networks will also be asked to contribute.

Country Reports

Country reports should cover the elements and preferably would be organized in a standardized format as given below. Following the experiences gained at FRA-2000 a narrative national (country) report on the fire situation should provide a general situation assessment and also provide statistical information in order to possibly allow to identify trends of wildfire occurrence, fire use and overall wildland fire impacts since the 1980s.

The compilation of country reports will improve the global wildland fire database of the GFMC. The database will be made available to the FAO and its regional rapporteurs for the Thematic Report on Forest Fires of the Forest Resources Assessment 2005 (FRA-2005). Other UN organizations, conservation organizations, and partners in the Global Wildland Fire Network are invited to use the database.

The Country Reports are formatted in four languages. Detailed instructions, including terminology, tables, and address for delivery, are provided here:

Notes

A preliminary Global Vegetation Fire Dataset will be made accessible here by mid of 2005.

The earlier Global Vegetation Fire Inventory website is not updated but available for study:


 

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