GFMC Calendar 2019

January| February| March | April | May| June | July | August | September | October | November| December

Preparation of GFMC activities in 2019

January 2019

03 January 2019
Meeting of the National Committee on Perspectives of Landscape Fire Management in Greece; Thessaloniki / Athens, Greece.

10 January 2019
On-site field inspection of Calluna vulgaris heathland conservation areas for preparation of prescribed burning, Gluecksburger Heide, Sachsen Anhalt State (J.G. Goldammer); Seyda, Elster, Germany.

The Gluecksburger Heide is a former military training and shooting range of the German Air force (until 1945) and the Soviet Army (1945-1990), nowadays a conservation area belong to the DBU Naturerbe GmbH (German Federal Environment Foundation) and is managed by the German Federal Forest Service. Rapid forest succession and invasion is threatening the protected heathland and requires the use of prescribed fire to regenerate Calluna vulgaris and halt the invasion of tree cover. – On-site field visit by GFMC, the German Service Provider for Fire and Disaster Protection DiBuKa and the Federal Forest Service. Photos: Luftbild Digital.

28-30 January 2019
Second Workshop of the Thematic Working Group Landscape Fire Crisis Mitigation (TWG-C) of the project FIRE-IN – Fire and Rescue Innovation Network, a project conducted in the frame of the EU Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2016-2017 Secured Societies – Protecting Freedom and Security of Europe and its Citizens (SEC-21-GM-2016-2017 – Pan-European Networks of Practitioners and other Actors in the Field of Security), chaired by GFMC (L. Pronto, J.G. Goldammer); Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Officiers de Sapeurs-Pompiers (ENSOSP), Aix-en-Provence, France.

Opening of the Workshop by the Leadership of the host ENSOSP and by GFMC

Participants of the workshop include FIRE-IN Partners and Associated Experts from all over Europe
Photos: ENSOSP

31 January 2019

Internal kickoff meeting of the implementation of the project “Network of European hubs for civil protection and crisis management”, with pilot hub “Wildfire Risk Management” (GFMC partner) (L. Pronto, J.G. Goldammer); Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Officiers de Sapeurs-Pompiers, Aix-en-Provence, France.

February 2019

01 February 2019
Tripartite online conference between the Secretariat of the European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement (EUR-OPA) (G. Silvestrini), the Secretariat of the German Committee for Disaster Reduction (DKKV) (B. Thiebes) and with GFMC (J.G. Goldammer) on future collaboration between EUR-OPA and DKKV; Strasbourg, Bonn, Freiburg.

GFMC online meeting with EUR-OPA Secretariat. From left: G. Silvestrini and P. Cadeac.

07-08 February 2019
Submission of the Report of the Committee on the Future of Landscape Fire Management and Wildfire Risk Reduction in Greece (GFMC Chair) to the Prime Minister of Greece, Mr. Alexis Tsipras, and the President of the Hellenic Parliament, Mr. Nikolaos Voutsis, and the leaders of the Parliamentary Commissions leaders (Mrs. Aikaterini Igglezi, MP and Chair of the Special Standing Committee on the Protection of the Environment; Mrs. Chara Kafantari, MP and Chair of the Standing Committee on Production and Commerce; Mr. Mr Antonios Syrigos, MP and Chair of the Standing Committee on Public Administration, Public Order and Justice); Briefing of the President of the Hellenic Republic, Mr. Prokopis Pavlopoulos; Press Conference and meeting with Members of the Hellenic Parliament; Maximos Mansion, Hellenic Parliament, Presidential Mansion (Proedrikό Mégaro), Athens, Greece.

Briefing of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Maximos Mansion by the Committee, with participation of State Minister Dimitrios Tsanakopoulos and the Secretary for Civil Protection, Ioannis Tafyllis (on 7 February 2019). ©Photo: Maximos.

Handing over the Report to the Hellenic Parliament. From left: Committee Chair Johann Georg Goldammer, Mr. Nikolaos Voutsis, President of the Hellenic Parliament, Mrs. Aikaterini Igglezi, MP and Chair of the Special Standing Committee on the Protection of the Environment, Mrs. Chara Kafantari, MP and Chair of the Standing Committee on Production and Commerce, Mr. Mr Antonios Syrigos, MP and Chair of the Standing Committee on Public Administration, Public Order and Justice.
©Photo: Hellenic Parliament-Photographer: Aliki Eleftheriou
Athens-Greece

On 8 February 2019 the report was handed over to the President of the Hellenic Republic, His Excellency Mr. Prokopis Pavlopoulos (Center). ©Photo: ANA-MPA.

At the Presidential Mansion (Proedrikό Mégaro) the President of the Hellenic Republic and the Commission discussed the consequences of climate change and land-use change on future risks of dangerous landscape fires and the measures to be taken. ©Photo: ANA-MPA.

18 February 2019
Meeting of the Economic and Environment Committee of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), with GFMC report on the results of activities in Landscape Fire Disaster Risk Reduction in OSCE Participating States (J.G. Goldammer); OSCE Secretariat, Hofburg, Vienna, Austria.

With the presentation “The Involvement of the OSCE in Wildfire Disaster Risk Reduction: A Retrospective of Joint Efforts with the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) 2006-2018” the head of GFMC reported about the progress in development of fire management capacities in OSCE Participating States, which led to the Basel OSCE Ministerial Council Decision No. 6/2014 “Enhancing Disaster Risk Reduction” and the post-Basel fire management / wildfire DRR agenda 2015-2018 in the Participating States. Photo: OSCE Secretariat.

21 February 2019
Joint consultation on the future of Landscape Fire Management in Germany with the heads of the German Federal Forest Service (BIMA Sparte Bundesforst), Mr. Gunther Brinkman, and the German Federal Agency for Disaster Relief (Bundesanstalt Technisches Hilfswerk THW), Mr. Alfred Broemme), and the Director of GFMC (Johann Georg Goldammer); BIMA Bundesforst, Bonn, Germany.


23 February – 03 March 2019
Field mission addressing fire management and policy development in Madagascar in the frame of the project “Projet d’appui pour le renforcement des capacités en économie de la gestion durable et de la dégradation des terres”, a cooperative project between the Laboratoire Terres Paysages et Développement (LLandDev) du Département des Eaux et Forêts, Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Agronomiques (ESSA-Forêts), the German Development Corporation GIZ and the SV BoDeN Initiative “ELD et ProSol“ (J.G. Goldammer) ; Antananarivo, Ankarafantsika (Tanà + Boeny), Madagascar.


The Fire Management Week in Madagascar challenged the national and international participants to define solutions for reducing excessive landscape fires that have resulted to extreme erosion, runoff and siltation of water bodies and sensitive ecosystems of the country. From top to down: “Lavaka” erosion, sediment-loaded rivers, and fire- and soil-protection measures as possible solutions to halt the degradation of Madagascar’s landscapes. Last photo: The malgache and international team.

March 2019

08 March 2019
Presentation of the Report of the Independent Committee tasked to Analyze the Underlying Causes and Explore the Perspectives for the Future Management of Landscape Fires in Greece” (GFMC, coord.) to the European Commission (DG ECHO – European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, Unit A3 – Disaster Risk Reduction, European Voluntary Humanitarian Corps) in the frame of the activities of the Disaster Prevention Expert Group (I. Mitsopoulos, G. Eftychidis); European Commission, Brussels, Belgium.

08 March 2019
Presentation of the National Committee on Perspectives of Landscape Fire Management in Greece to the European Commission, DG ECHO, Disaster Prevention Expert Group (I. Mitsopoulos, G. Eftychidis); Brussel, Belgium.

Presentation of the recommendations of the Committee by
by Ioannis Mitsopoulos. Photo: G. Eftychidis.

09 March 2019
In following up the National Round Table Fires in the Natural and Cultural Landscapes of Ukraine: Development of National Natural Fire Management Policy“, held on 26 October 2017 at the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (NULESU), the Rector of NULESU visited the Regional Eastern Europe Fire Monitoring Center (REEFMC) to be briefed on the Second National Round Table to be held on 09 April 2019 with the support of GFNMC and the Council of Europe; Kyiv, REEFMC / National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (NULESU), Ukraine.

Briefing of Prof. Dr. Stanislav Nikolaenko, Rector of NULESU (left), by the Director of REEFMC, Prof. Dr. Sergiy V. Zibtsev (right). Photo: NULESU.

10 March 2019
Visit of the Minister for Environment and Tourism, Members of the Parliament of Mongolia and the Director General of the MET Department of Forest Policy and Coordination and Director of the Regional Fire Management Resource Center – Central Asia Region (RFMR-CAR), Dr. Oyunsanaa Byambasuren, in Germany, with briefing and consultations on cooperation between GFMC (J.G. Goldammer) and RFMR-CAR/MET; Frankfurt, Germany.

15 March 2019
Working Group meeting of the implementation of the project “Network of European hubs for civil protection and crisis management”, with pilot hub “Wildfire Risk Management” (GFMC partner) (J.G. Goldammer); Brussels, Belgium.

19-21 March 2019

Aerial Firefighting Conference Europe 2019 (co-sponsored by GFMC and UNISDR-IWPM), with GFMC / IFAWG contribution; Nimes, France

Aerial firefighting demonstration

Eulogy by Johann Georg Goldammer, Secretary of the International Fire Aviantion Working Group (IFAWG) and Director of GFMC (left), and presentation of the Walt Darren Award for Safety in Aerial Firefighting to Riccardo Filippi (right)

23 March 2019
Prescribed conservation burning in Zschornoer Wald Nature Reserve (Germany), associated with the FireSense experiment aimed at development of improved algorithms and products for the quantitative assessments of landscape fires and their emissions of trace gases and aerosols or validation and calibration of satellite by testing polar-orbiting satellites accompanied with fixed-wing aircraft and UAV; Zschornoer Wald Nature Reserve, Germany.

UAV imagery of a fireline segment used for satellite validation

25 March 2019
The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, and the Rector of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (NUBiP), Prof. Dr. Stanislav Nikolaenko familiarized themselves with the work of the Regional Eastern Europe Fire Monitoring Center (REEFMC). The head of the state met with the REEFMC head, Prof. Dr. Sergiy Zibtsev, staff of teachers and students of the university, and visited the exposition of the REEFMC and was informed about the main directions of the center’s activities in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone (ChEZ), the social and ecological consequences of fires in the ChEZ, the operations of joint forces and the problem of agricultural burnings in Ukraine; Kyiv, NUBiP, Ukraine.

President of Ukraine (right), Rector of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (middle) and the head of REEFMC (left) meeting at REEFMC. Photo: NUBiP

April 2019

05 April 2019
Preparatory meeting of German institutions contributing to the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction 2019 (13-17 May 2019), convened by the German Federal Office for Population Protection and Disaster Assistance (Bundesamt für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe), with GFMC contributions (J.G. Goldammer); GIZ, Bonn, Germany.

08 April 2019
Prescribed burning operations and suppression firing training in Oster Military Forest District conducted by GFMC (J.G. Goldammer); Oster Forest District, Ukraine.

Handing over the drip torch to the local foresters. Photos: Katharina

The Oster Forest District Fire Team – See more impressions on the special web page (to follow)

09 April 2019
Second National Round Table “Fires in the Natural and Cultural Landscapes of Ukraine: Developing a National Policy for the Wildfires Management”: Consultation on the draft Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Concerning the Immediate Elimination of the Crisis Situation Due to Forest Fires”, and initiative of the Regional Eastern Europe Fire Monitoring Center with the support of the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) and the Council of Europe; Kyiv, REEFMC / National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (NULESU), Ukraine.

The Round Table was opened by the Rector of NULESU, Prof. Dr. Stanislav Nikolaenko, and by Prof. Dr. Petro Lakyda, Director of the Institute of Forestry and Landscape-Park Management (right). Workshop conveners (Prof. Dr. Sergiy V. Zibtsev and Prof. Dr. Johann Georg Goldammer) at the left.

Participants of the Round Table from different Ukrainian agencies, the Parliament, forestry enterprises and academia.

14-17 April 2019
Follow-up activities of the project “Enhancing National Capacity on Fire Management and Wildfire Disaster Risk Reduction in the South Caucasus”; Georgia.

19 April 2019
IMPERIALISMS 2019 CSA Graduate Student Workshop, with GFMC contribution “See the Forester for the Trees” (Jameson Karns); Stanford Center for South Asia, Stanford University, Stanford, California, U.S.A.

The CSA Graduate Workshop flag and group photo

24 April 2019
Ireland India Institute Conference on South Asia, with GFMC contribution “Die Indischen Wälder: Germany and the birth of the Indian Forest Department (1855-1910)” (Jameson Karns); Dublin, Ireland.

25 April 2019
GFMC Comments on the wildfire situation in Thüringen State, Germany

Interview with GFMC Director J.G Goldammer in MDR Aktuell
On the wildfire situation in Thüringen State, Germany
(25 April 2019).
Editorial remark: The URL to the News Broadcast is no longer available.

May 2019

06 May 2019
Working Group meeting of the implementation of the project Network of European Hubs for Civil Protection and Crisis Management, with pilot hub Wildfire Risk Management (GFMC partner) (J.G. Goldammer); Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

09 May 2019
Assembly of the German Forest Association (Deutscher Forstverein) with GFMC (J.G. Goldammer) contribution Deutschland – Waldbrandland? (Germany – Forest Fire Country?) in the frame of the seminar Katastrophenwald (Disaster Forest”; Dresden, Germany.

Post-Assembly Interview and TV Report by MDR “Was passiert nach einem Waldbrand”? The interview addresses the suggestion to reflect on traditional concepts of agroforestry in open oak and pine stands, which would be more resilient to climate extremes (drought, wind) and fire (Broadcasted by MDR on 15 May 2019)

13-17 May 2019
UNISDR Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) 2019, with GFMC participation (J.G. Goldammer) representing the Global Wildland Fire Network (GWFN) and the Regional Fire Management Resource Centers; UN Geneva, Switzerland

The IGNITE Stage offered an opportunity to brief the attendees of the GPDRR to the concept of Integrated Landscape Fire Management concepts and planning. Photo: German Committee for Disaster Reduction (DKKV)

For the video recording of the presentation and discussion see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrRF6704W9w

Statements Session: Statement by the GFMC on behalf of the Global Wildland Fire Network and the International Wildfire Preparedness Mechanism (PDF 0.4 MB)

For the video recording of the GFMC Statement see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qriGSwT63xY

14-16 May 2019
Annual workshop of the project FIRE-IN – Fire and Rescue Innovation Network, a project conducted in the frame of the EU Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2016-2017 Secured Societies – Protecting Freedom and Security of Europe and its Citizens (SEC-21-GM-2016-2017 – Pan-European Networks of Practitioners and other Actors in the Field of Security), with public presentation of the Thematic Working Group Vegetation (Landscape) Fire Crisis Mitigation (TWG-C) (L. Pronto); Ministry of Home Affairs, Barcelona, Spain.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is FIRE-IN-Barcelona-15-May-2019-GFMC-Lindon-Pronto.jpg

Presentation and dissemination of preliminary project results of the FIRE-IN Thematic Working Group on Landscape Fire Crisis Mitigation. Photo: SAFE-Cluster

25 May 2019
ARTE/ZDF documentary “The Power of Fire – Europe is Burning” (Die Macht des Feuers – Wenn Europa brennt; by Almut Faass), covering the views of various institutions in Europe, including GFMC and partners.

Screenshots of the documentary showing GFMC staff (F. Casillas, L. Pronto, J.G. Goldammer), the firefighting tank operating on UXO-contaminated terrain in 2018, and the French partners of SDIS-13, France. The film is available at GFMC for internal use.

June 2019

08 June 2019
Follow-up of the Symposium The Fathers of American Forestry: Assembly of the families of Sir Dietrich Brandis and Carl Alwin Schenck – hosted by the Global Fire Monitoring Center at GFMC in Freiburg, Germany, 10 November 2018: Meeting of the Schenck Family and presentation of the GFMC book publication “Carl Alwin Schenck. Memoiren 1868 bis 1887” (Carl Alwin Schenck. Memoirs 1868 to 1887); Darmstadt, Germany.

13 June 2019
Preparation of a fire experiment devoted to investigation of post-fire water repellency (BSc thesis of Anna Ververis), with the support of GFMC and the Emmendingen-Mundingen Volunteer Fire Service; Emmendingen-Mundingen Community Forest, Germany.

Research site inspection visit with A. Ververis (left), GFMC Chief and Mundingen Fire Brigade Team

14 June 2019
Demonstration of specialized landscape fire training and equipment of Kappel Volunteer Fire Service, a Volunteer Fire Service Unit of the Office for Fire and Disaster Protection, City of Freiburg i.Br. (Germany), under the guidance of GFMC and with a specialized mobile landscape fire suppression unit of DiBuKa Services; for documentation of the SWR TV REPORT MAINZ; Freiburg-Kappel, Germany.

Explanations of the landscape fire management training and equipment concept to the SWR TV Team. Photo: Heiko Huchthausen (DiBuKa).

20-21 June 2019
International Seminar on Planning and Prevention of Landscape Fires and the Role of Landscape Restoration, organized by the Corporación Nacional Forestal (CONAF) and the World Resources Institute (WRI) under the Initiative 20×20, sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, with GFMC GFMC opening keynote address “Landscape fires in the new landscape global scenario. Vision of the Global Fire Monitoring Center“ (J.G. Goldammer); Santiago de Chile, Chile.

The Seminar Group, hosted by the Chilean Wildfire Prevention Mascot Forestín.

GFMC delivering the keynote address.
Photos: Ricardo San Martin, CONAF

25-26 June 2019

Consultation Workshop on the development of a concept for a European Hub for Civil Protection and Crisis Management in the frame of the implementation of the project Network of European Hubs for Civil Protection and Crisis Management, with pilot hub Wildfire Risk Management (GFMC partner) (J.G. Goldammer); Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Attendees from UCPM Participating States and specialized institutions contributed to the Consultation Workshop. Photo: Ecorys.

July 2019

01-05 July 2019
OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) Environmental Focal Points Training on Environmental Risks and Emergency Preparedness “Toxic Industrial Material Reconnaissance & Assessment Course (TIMRAC)”. This training course aims at strengthening capacities of the OSCE SMM Environmental Focal Points in the area of environmental emergency preparedness with a view to reinforcing the safety and security of the SMM Mission members. The training will strengthen the knowledge and awareness of the EFPs on the type of environmental risks and emergencies that the SMM Mission members might face, and familiarize the EFPs with applicable safety rules, monitoring and reporting, and tools for rapid assessment. GFMC Contribution: “Wildfire Hazards Resulting from Collateral Damages of Armed Conflicts and Post-Conflict Threats by Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) and Land Mines” (J.G. Goldammer on 01 July 2019); Austrian Army, Vienna Penzing, Austria.

TIMRAC Course organizers (OSCE Secretariat and the Austrian Army) and the group of trainees and resource persons

01-04 July 2019
GFMC support for wildfire assessment and incident management on the former Luebtheen military exercise area and weapons depot, with heavy explosions threatening the safety of local populations and firefighters. Deployment of the armoured firefighting system developed by DiBuKa and GFMC; Luebtheen, Germany

Aerial reconnaissance of the Luebtheen wildfire on 02 July 2019 at 13:30 UTC: Aerial view of wildfire burning under canopy and camera observations including infrared (FLIR) determination of the fire spread below-canopy.

Large tracts of active and former military training / shooting ranges are contaminated by unexploded ordnance (UXO). On the former Luebtheen Military Training Range UXO is also stemming from an ammunition depot of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine – up to the end of WWII). During wildfires exploding UXO pose a major threat to the ground and aerial firefighters.

Confining the fire on UXO-contaminated terrain by narrow fire breaks (in case of fires burning against the wind).

Widening and construction of new firebreaks ahead of the wildfire (safety distance on UXO-contaminated terrain: 1000m)

The SPOT-55 armored firefighting tank – the only permissible ground tool for direct fire attack.

Alt Jabel village was evacuated and a buffer zone (fuel break) constructed

Incident management planning at Luebtheen emergency coordination center and discussions with representatives from Mecklenburg Vorpommern State: Minister for Agriculture and Environment, MPV State Forest Service; Federal Level: State Secretary for Agriculture and Food, Federal Agency for Disaster Relief and Federal German Forest Service; with head of GFMC.Briefing by the German Army (in charge of fuel break construction)Press conference by the incident commander, county commissioner Stefan Sternberg, and Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State, Manuela Schwesig.
Source of all Photos: GFMC

06-11 July 2019
GFMC statements on the status of fire management in Germany

ARD Tagesthemen of 6 July 2019
Report Mainz of 9 July 2019
(Report Mainz announcement, PDF)
(Report Mainz script, PDF)
SWR Evening News 9 July 2019
Zur Sache Baden-Württemberg – SWR, 11 July 2019

09 July 2019
Fire management planning meeting for wildfire prevention around the Belchen Cable Car (GFMC advisor); Aitern, Germany.

11 July 2019
Online meeting of the trilateral project between Ecuador, Brazil and Costa Rica (2019-2021), with the support of GFMC “Strengthening Technical and Institutional Capacities in Ecuador in Integrated Fire Management in Conservation Areas” (Misión de Preparación de la Propuesta Cooperación Trilateral Ecuador – Brasil – Costa Rica – Alemania: “Fortalecimiento de las Capacidades Técnicas e Institucionales en el Ecuador para el Manejo Integral del Fuego en Áreas de Conservación”); GFMC, Quito (Ecuador) and Brasilia (Brazil).

15 July 2019

Meeting with Freiburg Fire Service on landscape fire management planning (J.G. Goldammer); Freiburg, Germany.

15-17 July 2019
Follow-up activities of the project “Enhancing National Capacity on Fire Management and Wildfire Disaster Risk Reduction in the South Caucasus”; Georgia.

30 July 2019
Continuation of specialized landscape fire training and equipment of Waltershofen Volunteer Fire Service, a Volunteer Fire Service Unit of the Office for Fire and Disaster Protection, City of Freiburg i.Br. (Germany), under the guidance of GFMC; Freiburg-Waltershofen, Germany.

Training of fireline construction, suppression firing and use of hand tools in a prescribed agricultural fire near Waltershofen. Photos: GFMC

August 2019

05-13 August 2019
Evaluation of the prescribed burning operations on Calluna vulgaris heathlands on Sylt Island, in cooperation with Sylt Nature Conservancy (Naturschutzgemeinschaft Sylt) and County Conservation Administration (Untere Naturschutzbehörde Kreis Nordfriesland), following up the 2014-2018 burning programme (J.G. Goldammer); Sylt Island, Germany.

Revisit of the prescribed burn site in Braderup Heath (2014) with successful regeneration of heath (upper photo) and the effects of a clean burn in Morsum Heath (2018), together with a billboard explaining the use of prescribed fire for heathland restoration and maintenance. Photos: GFMC.

14 August 2019
GFMC training of County Fire Commissioners and Ministry for Interior of Sachsen-Anhalt State on (a) basics for training of fire management trainers, (b) landscape fire equipment, and (c) wildfire suppression on terrain contaminated by unexploded ordnance (UXO) (J.G. Goldammer); DiBuKa, Seehausen, Germany.

 

The briefing of the County Fire Commissioners and the heads of the Departments for Fire Safety of the State Ministries of Sachsen-Anhalt and Brandenburg included basics of socio-economic and environmental changes on landscape fire risks in Germany and globally, as well as the introduction of basics in landscape fire management for training of fire and rescue service personnel. Photos: DiBuKa

15 August 2019
Meeting with Parliamentary State Secretary and Member of Parliament (Bundestag) Hans-Joachim Fuchtel, German Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture, on strategic planning for the future of climate-change resilient forest and fire management (J.G. Goldammer); German Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture, Berlin, Germany.

15 August 2019
Symposium „Forest Fires – Challenges for Avoidance and Management (“Waldbrand – Herausforderungen bei der Vermeidung und Bewältigung”), German Agency for Renewable Resources (Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. – FNR), with support of the World Climate Fund (WaldKlimaFonds): Definition for action and measures to be taken (J.G. Goldammer); Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture, Berlin, Germany.

23 August 2019
Congratulatory address from Regional Eastern Europe Fire Monitoring Center (REEFME) to GFMC.

24-28 August 2019
All-Russian conference with international participation, dedicated to 75th anniversary of V. N. Sukachev Institute of Forest SB RAS “Forest Ecosystems of Boreal Zone: Biodiversity, Bioeconomy, Ecological Risks”, with GFMC contribution “Evaluation of achievements in nature-based fire management and development of future cooperative approaches at the science-policy interface in Siberia and adjoining regions of Central Asia” (J.G. Goldammer); Sukachev Institute of Forest, Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation.

27 August 2019
Round Table “Evaluation of achievements in nature-based fire management and development of future cooperative approaches at the science-policy interface in Siberia and adjoining regions of Central Asia”; Sukachev Institute of Forest, Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation.

27 August 2019
Opening of the Regional Eurasia Fire Monitoring Center (REFMC) under the auspices of the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) and the Global Wildland Fire Network, with support of the Council of Europe (EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement); Sukachev Institute of Forest, Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation.

1-30 August 2019
GFMC media outreach concerning the media hype on fires in South America and Russian Federation:

ARD Interview on Siberian and South American Fires (recorded in Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation), 27 August 2019

ZDF Interview on Siberian and South American Fires
30 August 2019

September 2019

09 September 2019
GFMC contribution to the RBB documentary “Die Wahrheit über… die Zukunft des Waldes“ (The truth about the future of the forest).

The truth about the future of the forest
RBB – 9 September 2019

09 September 2019
Work visit at the Southeast Asia branch of GFMC – The Regional Fire Management Resource Center – South East Asia (RFMRC-SEA) (Bambang Hero Saharjo, J.G. Goldammer); RFMRC-SEA / Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), Bogor, West Java, Indonesia.

Briefing on the situation of active land-use fires by the Director of RFMRC-SEA, Prof. Bambang Hero Saharjo, to Prof. Mark A. Cochrane (University of Maryland, Center for Environmental Science, U.S.A.) and Prof. Johann Georg Goldammer (GFMC) 

10 September 2019
2nd International Conference on Tropical Silviculture (ICTS 2019), with GFMC contribution “Revisit of the “Freiburg Declaration on Tropical Fires” of 1989: The Initiation of an International Agenda in Global Landscape Fire Science and Fire Management” (J.G. Goldammer); Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), Bogor, West Java, Indonesia.

11 September 2019
Ceremony of handing over the Global Landscape Fire Award 2019, sponsored by the Global Wildland Fire Network to the laureate Dr. Ir. Siti Nurbaya, MSc, Minister for Environment and Forestry, Republic of Indonesia, and Certificates of Distinction for Prof. Dr. Ir. Bambang Hero Saharjo, M.Agr., Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), and Dr. Ir. Raffles Brotestes Panjaitan, MSc, Director of Forest and Land Fire Management, Directorate General of Climate Change, Ministry for Environment and Forestry, Republic of Indonesia; Jakarta, Indonesia.

GLFA laureate Dr. Ir. Siti Nurbaya, MSc, Minister for Environment and Forestry, Republic of Indonesia, and Recipients of the Certificates of Distinction, for Prof. Dr. Ir. Bambang Hero Saharjo and Dr. Ir. Raffles Brotestes Panjaitan. Photo: Ministry for Environment and Forestry, Republic of Indonesia. 

17 September 2019
Meeting with Executive Director of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), Dr. Gerhard Dieterle, with GFMC, concerning coordinated response to the fire situation in South America and the opportunities in implementing the Declaration of Viña del Mar 2017 on Cross-Boundary Cooperation in Fire Management in South America and other joint activities; GFMC.

18 September 2019
Discussion Forum of the German Reinsurance Ltd. Addressing Landscape Fires – Ecology and Damages (J.G. Goldammer); Schwerin, Germany.

19 September 2019
Meeting with Minister for Environment of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State, Dr. Till Backhaus, in following-up the wildfire on the Luebtheen military exercise area and weapons depot in July 2019 (J.G. Goldammer); Schwerin, Germany.

25-29 September 2019
Field mission addressing fire management and policy development in Madagascar in the frame of the project “Projet d’appui pour le renforcement des capacités en économie de la gestion durable et de la dégradation des terres”, a cooperative project between the Laboratoire Terres Paysages et Développement (LLandDev) du Département des Eaux et Forêts, Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Agronomiques (ESSA-Forêts), the German Development Corporation GIZ and the SV BoDeN Initiative “ELD et ProSol“ (J.G. Goldammer), including a National Round Table on Fire Management (27 September 2019); Antananarivo, Madagascar.

Discussion of the Madagascar Fire Management Policy Brief at inter-agency level in the Ministry for Environment, Forests and Tourism, for submission to the government of Republic of Madagascar next week. Photo: Jimmy Rakotovao

29 September – 05 October 2019
XXV IUFRO World Congress 2019 “Forest Research and Cooperation for Sustainable Development”, with REEFMC / GFMC contribution “Joint international efforts and challenges for enhancing fire management capabilities in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine” (presented by S. Zibtsev, REEFMC); Curitiba, Brazil.

October 2019

09 October 2019
Interagency fire management planning meeting for wildfire preparedness in Freiburg City forests (GFMC advisor); Freiburg Fire Service, Germany.

10-12 October 2019
Implementation of the Fire Management Support Component for Georgia in the frame of the regional programme Integrated Biodiversity Management in the South Caucasus (IBiS) (GIZ): Training course for fire management personnel in Kvareli and finalization of fire management plan for Dedoplistskaro Municipality, Kakheti region (J.G. Goldammer); Kvareli and Dedoplistskaro, Georgia.

Introduction of fire suppression hand tools in preparation of the 2020 fire management exercise. Photos: GFMC.

14-15 October 2019
Working Group meeting of the implementation of the project Network of European Hubs for Civil Protection and Crisis Management, with pilot hub Wildfire Risk Management (GFMC partner) (J.G. Goldammer); École d’application de Sécurité Civile (ECASC), Valabre, Gardanne, France.

The École d’application de Sécurité Civile (ECASC) provides the Euro-Mediterranean Center for Risk Simulation (CESIR). Photo: Ecorys.

22 October 2019
Meeting of the Technical Working Group on Sendai Hazard Definitions and Classification, co-facilitated by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the International Science Council (ISC), tasked with developing new hazard definitions and classifications (J.G. Goldammer); WMO, Geneva, Switzerland.

 25 October 2019
German Parliament (Bundestag) thematic conference “Impacts of Climate Change on Landscape Fires: Challenges and Solutions for Germany and the European Union” (Fachkonferenz „Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf Landschaftsbrände – Herausforderungen und Lösungsansätze für Deutschland und die EU“), organized by the Parliamentary Party The Liberals (Freie Demokratische Partei – FDP) in cooperation with GFMC (J.G. Goldammer); Deutscher Bundestag, Europe Hall / Europa-Saal, Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany.

The meeting was attended by representatives of State and Federal Organizations and well as the private sector. Photos: Zukunftsforum Öffentliche Sicherheit

27 October 2019
Meeting of the International Liaison Committee (ILC) and the Brazilian Conference Organizing Committee for the 7th International Wildland Fire Conference (IWFC-7); Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

ILC members and hosts of IWFC-7 at the eve of the conference. Good atmosphere and spirit! Photo: ILC

28 October – 01 November 2019
Seventh International Wildland Fire Conference (IWFC 7); Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
GFMC contributions:

  • Keynote speech in the panel “Wildfire +30 – The People, the Land, the Resources: 30 years after the first IWFC – What are the Achievements and Improvements?”
  • The Global Wildland Fire Network and the UNISDR international Wildfire Preparedness Mechanism (IWPM): Advances and Prospects
  • Regional Fire Management Resource Center-Southeast Asia and Their Role for Fire Prevention Management in the Region
  • Concept for Integrated Fire Management on Terrain Contaminated by Radionuclides in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone
  • Fire Management on Terrain Contaminated by Unexploded Ordnance during and post Conflict in Europe
  • Post-fire Succession of Understory Vegetation in Scotch Pine Forests of Central Polissya of Ukraine
  • Media Coverage of Wildlife Affected by Wildfires in Brazilian Protected Areas
  • Moderator of the Global Session

Websites and post-conference activities

31 October 2019
In following-up the public and political attention on use of fire in land use and land-use change (deforestation) in South America, notably in the Amazon region, the leadership of the Regional South America Wildland Fire Network, the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) (Secretariat of the Global Wildland Fire Network) and the Secretariat of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) met at the occasion of IWFC-7. Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

Side meeting with Lara Steil, Co-Coordinator of the Regional South America Wildland Fire Network (left), Ambassodor Carlos Lazary Texeira, Director Ejecutivo SP/ACTO, and GFMC Director Johann Georg Goldammer, discussing the future cooperation agenda.
Photo: ACTO Secretariat.

November 2019

05-06 November 2019
Joint Meeting of the Committee of Permanent Correspondents and Directors of Specialised Centres, European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement (Open Partial Agreement on the Prevention of, Protection Against, and Organization of Relief in Major Natural and Technological Disasters – EUR-OPA), Council of Europe (J.G. Goldammer); Council of Europe, Paris, France.

12 November 2019
Prof. Dr. Bambang Hero Saharjo, head of the Regional Fire Management Resource Center – South East Asia (RFMRC-SEA) and Indonesia’s lead expert witness on environmentally catastrophic peatland fires, has been awarded the 2019 John Maddox Prize for Standing up for Science for his courage and integrity in standing up for sound science in the face of harassment, intimidation, and law suits (GFMC co-nominator); London, United Kingdom).

Bambang Hero Saharjo (second from right) after accepting the 2019 John Maddox Prize in London.

13-14 November 2019
Meeting of the CTIF Forest Fires Commission of the International Association of Fire and Rescue Services (Comité Technique International de Prevention et d’Extinction de Feu – CTIF). Theme: Operational organization in the field in very large forest Fires. How to prepare for “The big One?”, with GFMC contributions Landscape fires in Germany 2018-2019: Small size, long duration, extreme impacts and challenges and Global Landscape Fires in 2019: Ridge Walk between Reality, Media Hype and Political-Public Response (J.G. Goldammer); Sintra, National Firefighter School, Portugal.

The 2019 Fall meeting of the CTIF Forest Fire Commission, hosted by the Escola Nacional de Bombeiros (ENB), was attended by representatives of 11 European countries. Photos: CTIF and ENB.

14 November 2019
Planning meeting for the 8th International Wildland Fire Conference (J.G. Goldammer); Lisbon, Portugal.

20 November 2019
Peak of GFMC Headquarters restoration of fire safety. Apologies for intermittent communication!

26 November 2019
Conference call FIRE-IN – Fire and Rescue Innovation Network, a project conducted in the frame of the EU Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2016-2017 Secured Societies – Protecting Freedom and Security of Europe and its Citizens (SEC-21-GM-2016-2017 – Pan-European Networks of Practitioners and other Actors in the Field of Security), with Thematic Working Group Landscape Fire Crisis Mitigation (TWG-C); conference call.

December 2019

03-04 December 2019
Simulation Workshop on ‘Wildfire Risk Analysis’: Sharing of knowledge on existing wildfire danger and risk assessment approaches and how to translate the assessments into response planning and disaster risk reduction. An activity of the project Network of European Hubs for Civil Protection and Crisis Management, with pilot hub Wildfire Risk Management (GFMC partner) (J.G. Goldammer); Rottderdam, The Netherlands.

06 December 2019
Annual course “Fire Ecology of Tropical, Subtropical and Temperate-Boreal Forest Ecosystems” (Part I), Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Institute of Forest Science, Freiburg University, Freiburg University (Germany), given by GFMC (J.G. Goldammer); GFMC / Freiburg University, Germany.

10 December 2019
Regional Round Table “Wildfire Management in South Eastern Europe”. Objective: To reinforce transboundary cooperation within the region and discuss strategic policies to address the increasing vulnerability of countries in the OSCE area to wildfires. Participating States: Fire management and forest management authorities of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. Jointly organized by OSCE, GFMC and REFMC. Centre for Openness and Dialogue, Tirana, Albania.

11 December 2019
UN Climate Change Conference (COP 25) with joint presentation of the Regional Fire Management Resource Center – South East Asia (RFMRC-SEA) and GFMC “The Regional Fire Management Resource Center – South East Asia (RFMRC-SEA): Regional and Global Challenges” (Bambang Hero Saharjo, RFMRC-SEA, and Johann Georg Goldammer, GFMC); 12:10-13:30h, Indonesia Pavilion, Madrid, Spain.

12 December 2019
Annual course “Fire Ecology of Tropical, Subtropical and Temperate-Boreal Forest Ecosystems” (Part II), Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Institute of Forest Science, Freiburg University, Freiburg University (Germany), given by GFMC (J.G. Goldammer); GFMC / Freiburg University, Germany.

13 December 2019
Meeting of the Committee on Environmental Policy and Environmental Management of the Parliament of Ukraine (Verkhovna Rada) at Boyarka Forest Research Station, with a visit of the members of the Parliament at an exposition of the Regional Eastern Europe Fire Monitoring Center (REEFMC). During the meeting the draft Law of Ukraine on Improvement of Fire Management in the Cultural and Natural Landscapes, developed with the support of the Council of Europe (EUR-OPA) and the GFMC, and the plans to establish a Fire Research and Training Center in Boyarka Station was presented to parliament members. It was agreed that the Law need to be presented for Parliament for implementation and to prepare a meeting of the Committee devoted to address landscape fires with representatives of REEFMC.

Members of the Committee on Environmental Policy and Environmental Management of the Parliament of Ukraine and leadership and staff of the National University of at Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine at Boyarka Forest Research Station, with a visit of the members of the Parliament at an exposition of REEFMC, presented by Sergiy Zibtsev and Vasyl Gumeniuk.

16-20 December 2019
Evaluation of the prescribed burning operations on Calluna vulgaris heathlands on Sylt Island, in cooperation with Sylt Nature Conservancy (Naturschutzgemeinschaft Sylt) and County Conservation Administration (Untere Naturschutzbehörde Kreis Nordfriesland), following up the 2014-2018 burning programme (J.G. Goldammer); Sylt Island, Germany.

19 December 2019
GFMC comments to the threats of landscape fire air pollution during the ongoing fire emergency in Australia on human health; ARD TV, Germany.

31 December 2019
GFMC greetings for 2020: Happy New Year to all colleagues, cooperators and especially the members of the Global Wildland Fire Network, with some visual highlights of the outreach and policy work of GFMC in 2019 (PDF, 0.6 MB)

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
/by
WP-Backgrounds Lite by InoPlugs Web Design and Juwelier Schönmann 1010 Wien