Regional Mesoamerica Wildland Fire Network

A Region of the Global Wildland Fire Network

Rationale and Introduction

As a consequence of the severe fire episode during the El Niño drought of 1998 a series of cooperative efforts in wildland fire management were initiated within Mesoamerica and with international support.

Following the spirit of the mechanisms of the Tuxtla Dialogue and the Declaration of Mérida (DeclaraciónConjunta de la Quinta Cumbre del Mecanismo de Diálogo y Concertación de Tuxtla, Mérida, Yucatán, México, 27-28 June 2002) the First Mesoamerican Meeting of Cooperation Regarding Protection against Forest Fires(Primera Reunión Mesoamericana de Cooperación en Materia de Protección contraIncendios Forestales) was held in Guatemala City, 8-9 July 2002.

The objective of the meeting was to identify specific activities of regional cooperation between Mexico and the Central American countries about prevention and combat of forest fires. The participating countries included Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Nicaragua and Panamá.

Declaración de Mérida: Towards Concerted Efforts in Environmental Protection in Mesoamerica (27-28 June 2002) (Spanish)
Minutes and Resolution of the “First Mesoamerican Meeting of Cooperation Regarding Protection against Forest Fires” (Minuta de la “Primera Reunión Mesoamericana de Cooperación en Materia de Protección contra Incendios Forestales”) (8-9 July 2002) (Spanish / English)
Strategy elaborated by the “Workshop to Develop a Regional Strategy for Forest Pests and Wildfire Management in Central America” (26-30 August 2002) (for details see Taller para el Desarrollo de un Plan Estratégico Regional para el Manejo del Gorgojo del Pino y los Incendios Forestales en Centroamérica)

Preparatory and Follow-up Documents and Activities

Memorandum of Understanding betweenSIPECIF (Sistema Nacional de Prevención y Control de Incendios Forestales) and the GFMC, concerning the cooperation in the Global Wildland Fire Network

On 1June 2003 the Mesoamerican Permanent Technical Group on Forest Fires (Grupo TécnicoMesoamericano Permanente sobre Incendios Forestales), represented by Mr. RonaldoHerrarte, President of the Coordinating Council of the Sistema Nacional dePrevención y Control de Incendios Forestales (SIPECIF), Guatemala, and ExecutiveCoordinator of the Presidency of Guatemala and the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding concerning the cooperation in the Global Wildland Fire Network through active participation of the Regional Mesoamerica Wildland Fire Network:

Memorando de Entendimiento(Spanish version)
Memorandum of Understanding (English version)

Development of a Regional Strategy for Cooperation in Fire Management

After 2003 a number of activities resulted in a targeted development of regional cooperation:

Pan-American Wildland Fire Conference (San José, Costa Rica, 23 October 2004)
Development of a Regional Strategy for Cooperation in Fire Management(FAO TCP Report, 2006)
Estrategia Centroamericana para el Manejo del Fuego (2005-2015)
Foro Centroamericano sobre manejo del fuego (Report of the Central American Fire Management Forum, San Salvador, 30-31 October 2007, English)

Memorandum of Cooperation between Mexico and Guatemala on Fire Management across the common borders

On 2 July 2007 the governments of Mexico (through the Comision Nacional Forestal de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos CONAFOR) and Guatemala (Sistema Nacional de Prevención y Control de Incendios Forestales SIPECIF) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on the Prevention, Detection and Combat of Fires in the border zone between the two countries:

Memorandum des colaboracion para la prevention, deteccion y combate de incendios forestales a lo largo de la zona fronteriza de Mexico y de Guatemala(PDF, 0.3 MB)

Back

24. November 2017/by GFMCadmin