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Baltic Exercise for Fire Information and Resources Exchange (BALTEX FIRE 2000)

Kuopio, Finland, 5-9 June 2000

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The common Baltic forest fire initiative has been initiated in the mid-1990s by the UN-ECE/FAO/ILO Team of Specialists on Forest Fire which operates on behalf of the Joint UN-ECE/FAO/ILO Committee on Forest Technology, Management and Training and coordinates its work through the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC).

The UN-ECE/FAO/ILO Team of Specialists on Forest Fire is promoting a cooperative approach of the nations bordering the Baltic Basin to share fire management expertise and resources. At the ECE/FAO/ILO Conference on Forest, Fire and Global Change (Russia 1996) and the First International Baltic Conference on Forest Fire (Poland 1998) the Team has proposed to set up pan-Baltic programs and exchange mechanisms encompassing fire research, fire management training, the use of prescribed fire (in forestry, nature conservation, and landscape management), and mutual fire emergency assistance.

As a consequence, the UN Fire Team established a Baltic Forest Fire Task Force which is chaired by Finland. Finland therefore was host of BALTEX FIRE 2000.

BALTEX FIRE 2000 is considered as a contribution to the Baltic 21 Action Programme which is an initiative for the application of the Agenda 21 in the Baltic Sea Region and includes the Baltic 21 Action Programme on Forests. This programme is in line with:

• The UN Conference on Environment and Development UNCED (Rio 1992): Forest Principles and the Agenda 21, Chapter 11 on “Combating Deforestation and other”;
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Forest (IPF, 1995‑1997); and
• The Ministerial Conferences on the Protection of Forests in Europe (Strasbourg 1990, Helsinki 1993, Lisbon 1998).

BALTEX FIRE 2000 was organized in line with the objectives of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) which constitutes the follow-up arrangement of the UN International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR). The meeting and exercise included the participation of an international group of wildland fire and industrial fire specialists which prepares the formation of an advisory group under the UN International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) scheme. This group will support the United Nations in coordinating and implementing international response to forest and other wildland fire emergencies worldwide.

Announcement and Media

• Invitation and Agenda (PDF, 2.8 MB)
• Invitation – Associated Meeting of the UNECE/FAO Team of Specialists on Forest Fire (PDF, 0.1 MB)
• Press Release and Media Reports (PDF, 2.1 MB)

Exercise

• Prescribed Burning and Forest Fire Fighting Exercise (Heinävesi, 7 June 2000) (PDF, 5.3 MB)

BALTEX FIRE 2000 Report

• Special Issue of International Forest Fire News (No. 24, April 2001): Report and Special Issue on the Baltic Region (PDF, 2.7 MB)

BALTEX FIRE – Country Contributions

Since only a limited reports were published in the Special Issue of International Forest Fire News (No. 24, April 2001): Report and Special Issue on the Baltic Region, the complete set of papers delivered to the conference organization are given below:

• The First Baltic Conference on Forest Fires (Poland 1998): Rationale and Results (GFMC)
• Forest Fires in the Baltic Region: National and International Issues (GFMC)
• Fire History of Central Europe: Implications for Prescribed Burning in Landscape Management and Nature Conservation (GFMC)
• System of Forest Fire Risk Assessment at the Finnish Meteorological Institute
• Research Projects Concerning Forest Fires in Finland
• Forest Fire Detection by Satellites for Fire Control (Finland)
• Fire and its Use in Forest Ecosystems (Finland)
• Fire in Conservation Area Management in Finland
• Preconditions for Prescribed Burning (Finland)
• Controlling Forest Fires in Finland
• Finnish System of Airborne Extinguishing
• The Use of Fire in Swedish Forest Ecosystems
• Status Norway 2000
• Forest Fire and Environmental Management in Norway
• Fire Conservancy in Latvia’s Forests
• Review of Forest Fires in Estonia
• Forest Fires in Lithuania
• Report on Fire Threats to Forests in Poland
• The Geographic Information System as a Tool for Forest Fire Prevention (Poland)
• Automated Round the Clock Remote Infrared and Television System of Forest Fire and Ecological Monitoring (Belarus)
• Forest Fire Management in Russia
• New Technology of Satellite-based Forest Fire Detection (Russia)
• Country Report Germany
• Autonomous Early Warning System for Forest Fires Tested in Brandenburg (Germany)
• Country Report for The United Kingdom
• Forest Fires in Portugal
• Managing Wildland Fire in the United States of America

Photo Gallery

BALTEX FIRE 2000 Group

Close-up of the BALTEX FIRE 2000 Group

Prescribed burning and wildfire fighting exercise briefing (I): Media interview with Harry Frelander

Prescribed burning and wildfire fighting exercise briefing (II)

Prescribed burning and wildfire fighting exercise: Exercise fire ignition (I)

Prescribed burning and wildfire fighting exercise: Exercise fire ignition (II)

Prescribed burning and wildfire fighting exercise: Exercise fire ignition (III)

Exercise fire progressing

Exercise ground firefighting component

Exercise aerial firefighting component

Exercise fire under control

Using the opportunity: Follow-up research on the exercise burn area.
Photos: © Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC)