Fire Management Resource Center – Central Asia Region (FMRC-CAR)

Background

The first steps to enhance the fire management capacities of Mongolia and Central Asian countries have been initiated by the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) in 2004. In 2004, the first international conference “Forest Fire Management and International Cooperation in Fire Emergencies in the Eastern Mediterranean, Balkans and Adjoining Regions of the Near East and Central Asia” was held in Turkey, followed by the “Regional Central Asian Forest Congress: -Forest Policy: Problems and Solutions” in Kyrgyzstan in the same year. In the resolution of the Congress, the forest services of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan endorsed the participation in the Global Wildland Fire Network and the development of an international wildland fire accord. Subsequently, the Regional Central Asia Wildland Fire Network was established as one of the 14 regional networks within the Global Wildland Fire Network.

After the Meeting on “Forest and Steppe Fires in Mongolia: An Inter-Agency Meeting to Define the Way Ahead was organized in Ulaanbaatar on 11 September 2008; the Round Table meetings were held (2009, 2014, 2015) with the participation of all stakeholders in fire management in Mongolia and discussed current wildland fire situations and future steps. As stated in the 5th International Wildland Fire Conference held in 2011 in South Africa, fire management is complex and requires the coordination of participating agencies and other stakeholders. To overcome these issues an establishment of a unit of competence in fire research and management in Mongolia was identified as an urgent issue, therefore, the establishment of the Fire Management Resource Center – Central Asia Region (FMRC-CAR) has been accepted and decreed by the President of the National University of Mongolia on 01 April 2015 and an official opening ceremony was held on 21 September 2015 in Ulaanbaatar with the long-standing support of the GFMC and financial support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) through the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The FMRC-CAR is functioning as the Coordinator of Regional Central Asia Wildland Fire Network and mandated by the Government of Mongolia to serve as the secretariat of the National Coordination Committee on Forest and Steppe Fire Protection (NCCFSFP).

FMRC-CAR Outreach work in 2015

Fire Ecology and Management Course
The first undergraduate training course on Fire Ecology and Management has been conducted for students of the National University of Mongolia (2015), followed by the exercise of under canopy burning in Larch forests at the Udleg Forestry Research and Training Station.

Special Website of the Fire Ecology and Management Course

National Round Table “Strengthening Inter-Agency Cooperation in Fire Management” and preparation of setting up the Fire Management Resource Center-Central Asia Region and Field assessment of the 2015 spring fires in Eastern Mongolia, including transboundary fire between Mongolia and the Russian Federation
Between 5 and 8 May 2015 the National Round Table attended by the members of the National Coordination Committee on Forest and Steppe Fire Protection (NCCFSFP) was held, followed by the field assessment of spring fires in Eastern Mongolia in 2015 by the Fire Management Resource Center-Central Asia Region (FMRC-CAR) and GFMC.

Special Website of the Mongolia Fire Management Week (Round Table and Field Assessment Mission)

3rd Meeting on Transboundary Fire Management
A follow-up of the Mongolian-Russian Government Agreement on Transboundary Fire Management Cooperation (signed in 2014) was organized by the Russian Forestry Agency, 15-16 June 2015, Ulan-Ude, Russia.

Meeting Agenda (RUS, 0.1MB)
Website of the Meeting (to follow)

Mongolian representatives, led by Mr. Banzragch Tsesed, Head, Forest Policy Implementation Department, Ministry of Environment and Green Development and Tourism, Mongolia

Russian representatives, led by Mr. Panfilov Alexander Victorovich, Deputy Head, Federal Forestry Agency, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Russian Federation

Research on Estimating grass fuel loads with Disk Pasture Meter (DPM) and GIS tools
In order to support the transboundary fire management activities, the FMRC-CAR has conducted a research project Estimating grass fuel loads with a disk pasture meter and GIS tools in the north-eastern Mongolian steppe-were the most border crossing fires occur. Determining the amount of grass available to burn can help fire managers, land managers accurately predict fire behavior and manage the risk.

Website of the Field Research

Opening of the Fire Management Resource Center-Central Asia Region (FMRC-CAR), 21 September 2015, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
An official opening of the Fire Management Resource Center-Central Asia Region (FMRC-CAR) was held on 21 September 2015 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia with delegations from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.