COMMUNITY-BASED FIRE MANAGEMENT
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Village Defense
In some regions globally rural settlements (villages, towns, scattered farmsteads) and other rural assets (agricultural fields / crops, infrastructures and other values at risk) are increasingly endangered by wildfires. This trend is driven by the consequences of land-use change, regional climate change and particularly by the rural exodus, which has resulted in the weakening of rural work force and self-protection ability, and increasing wildfire hazard on abandoned lands. Recent major wildfire disasters in all continents reveal that government authorities and civil society, notably rural communities, are not sufficiently prepared to prevent and reduce the risk of wildfires, to defend rural communities and rural assets at risk, and to protect human health and altogether human security against the adverse direct and indirect impacts and consequences of wildfires.
In order to enhance the capabilities of local rural communities to defend themselves against wildfires a set of guidelines was developed for the Balkans as a pilot region in order to:
- Provide a practical technical document designed as a support tool for the protection of people and local rural communities in the Balkan region from wildfires.
- Serve as a starting point and basis for the exchange of expertise and concepts within the Council of Europe / UNECE / OSCE member states to continuously expand capacities in rural fire management.
The guidelines were prepared with the support from the European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement (EUR-OPA) set up by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The collaborating centers are the Global Fire Monitoring Center (Germany), the Regional Southeast Europe / Caucasus Fire Monitoring Center (Skopje) and the Eastern European Fire Monitoring Center (Kiev). Members of the UNECE/FAO Team of Specialists on Forest Fire and the UNISDR Regional Eurasian and SE Europe / Caucasus Wildland Fire Networks contributed to the development of the guidelines.
For details of structure and objectives please see the introductory part. The guidelines are available for the use in the Western Balkans (in English, Greek and in languages for the use in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia), Eastern Europe (Ukrainian) and Central Asia (Mongolian) (Status: April 2019; other languages to follow):
- Defence of Villages, Farms and Other Rural Assets against Wildfires: Guidelines for Rural Populations, Local Communities and Municipality Leaders in the Balkan Region (English) (PDF, 2.4 MB)
- Defense of Villages, Farms and Other Rural Assets against Wildfires: Guidelines for Rural Populations, Local Communities and Municipality Leaders in the Balkan Region, including EuroFire Competency Standards (Greek) (PDF, 10.2 MB)
- Defense of Villages, Farms and Other Rural Assets against Wildfires: Guidelines for Rural Populations, Local Communities and Municipality Leaders in the Balkan Region (for use in Republic of North Macedonia) (PDF, 3.1 MB)
- Defense of Villages, Farms and Other Rural Assets against Wildfires: Guidelines for Rural Populations, Local Communities and Municipality Leaders in the Balkan Region (for use in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia) (PDF, 2.6 MB)
- Defense of Villages, Farms and Other Rural Assets against Wildfires: Guidelines for Rural Populations, Local Communities and Municipality Leaders in Eastern Europe (Ukrainian) (PDF, 3.3 MB)
- Defense of Villages, Farms and Other Rural Assets against Wildfires: Guidelines for Rural Populations, Local Communities and Municipality Leaders in Central Asia (Mongolian) (PDF, 3.1 MB)
EuroFire Competency Standards
The EuroFire Competency Standards and Training Materials are used for capacitating local communities – including individual landowners, local fire services and volunteers – in the application of tools and methods for fire suppression and the safe use of fire. The EuroFire Competency Standards are available in 22 languages (status: April 2019) and can be downloaded here:
Chile: Community Defense Websites
- Comunidad de Prevención de Incendios Forestales: http://www.conaf.cl/incendios-forestales/prevencion/
- Alto a los Incentios Forestales: http://www.altoincendios.cl/
Related Media Reports and Publications
2024
- USA – Using community hardening and forest resiliency to mitigate wildfire harm (02 February 2024)
- USA – San Diego county to update fire guidelines (03 February 2024)
2021
- CANADA – Indigenous peoples must be heard above the roar of Canada’s forest fires (08 August 2021)
- AUSTRALIA – Developing a culturally appropriate natural hazards training program for Indigenous communities – HAZARD NOTE 96 (11 May 2021)
- AUSTRALIA – Building collaborative emergency management capacity in northern Australia – HAZARD NOTE 94 (21 April 2021)
- USA – Indigenous land-use reduced catastrophic wildfires on the Fish Lake Plateau (14 April 2021)
- CANADA – 15,000 acres burned in Blood Tribe wildfire Sunday, caused by sweat lodge session (29 March 2021)
- INDIA – Alirajpur: Forest fire cause restlessness among tribals as forest department lacks fire fighting equipment (19 March 2021)
- USA – Ancient indigenous New Mexican community knew how to sustainably coexist with wildfire (20 January 2021)
2020
- AUSTRALIA – What is cultural burning? (31 December 2020)
- AUSTRALIA – ABORIGINAL KNOWLEDGE KEY TO FIGHT AGAINST BUSHFIRES AND CLIMATE CHANGE: NARRM ORATION (27 November 2020)
- AUSTRALIA – ABORIGINAL LEADERS TO BE INCLUDED IN NSW’S TOP BUSHFIRE PLANNING COMMITTEE (20 November 2020)
- AUSTRALIA – INDIGENOUS FIRE MANAGEMENT SET TO SCALE UP IN BEGA VALLEY AFTER DEVASTATING BLACK SUMMER BUSHFIRES (12 November 2020)
- AUSTRALIA – INDIGENOUS RANGERS SAY FIRE MITIGATION WORK UNDER THREAT AFTER BLACK SUMMER BUSHFIRES TRIPLE INSURANCE COSTS (29 October 2020)
- AMAZON – 2020 FIRES ENDANGERING UNCONTACTED AMAZON INDIGENOUS GROUPS (28 October 2020)
- AUSTRALIA – Bushfire Grants To Support Aboriginal Culture And Healing (20 October 2020)
- BRAZIL – IN A DRIER AMAZON, SMALL FARMERS AND RESEARCHERS WORK TOGETHER TO REDUCE FIRE DAMAGE (08 October 2020)
- AUSTRALIA – Traditional fire management conducted in Bega Valley, Eurobodalla — hardest-hit by last season’s bushfires (27 September 2020)
- USA – Fighting Fire with Fire: What Tribal People Know About Forest Ecosystems (17 September 2020)
- AUSTRALIA – Survival of Indigenous communities at risk as Amazon fire season advances (02 September 2020)
- USA – Indigenous activists brace for worsening wildfires under climate change (31 August 2020)
- USA – To Manage Wildfire, California Looks To What Tribes Have Known All Along (24 August 2020)
- USA – California Teaming Up With Native American Tribes To Prevent Wildfires (13 August 2020)
- AUSTRALIA – Cultural burning more than just fire for Indigenous rangers (10 August 2020)
- USA – The Native American tribe on the front lines of Southern California’s Apple Fire (07 August 2020)
- USA –Don’t Downplay the Role of Indigenous People in Molding the Ecological Landscape (05 August 2020)
- AUSTRALIA – Aboriginal traditional burning expert hired for key role in growing bushfire challenge (31 May 2020)
- THAILAND – Key to controlling wildfires lies with communities (23 April 2020)
- AUSTRALIA – Call for Indigenous burning program used on remote cattle station to be adopted elsewhere (20 March 2020)
- AUSTRALIA – The world’s best fire management system is in northern Australia, and it’s led by Indigenous land managers (10 March 2020)
- AUSTRALIA – Northern Australia’s burning practices could be the answer to preventing future bushfire disasters (18 February 2020)
- AUSTRALIA – How ‘Smart’ Indigenous Fire Management Could Help The Bushfire Crisis (08 February 2020)
- CANADA – Yukon First Nations Wildfire leader ‘very moved, very humbled’ by $1M funding boost Social Sharing (08 February 2020)
- INDIA – Tribal residents, estate workers sensitised to forest fires in Gudalur (05 February 2020 Published by https://www.thehindu.com)
- AUSTRALIA – Aboriginal communities call for ongoing funding of cultural burning for bushfire mitigation (29 January 2020)
- AUSTRALIA: With Their Land In Flames, Aboriginals Warn Fires Show Deep Problems In Australia (Published by https://www.npr.org/ 11 January 2020)
2019
- USA : Oppressed By Wildfire: Weaving Culture Into Fire Management Helps Tribes Reclaim Suppressed Heritage (Published by https://www.ijpr.org/ 18 September 2019)
- SAO TOME: Forest conservation project converts bee-burners to beekeepers on Príncipe Island (Published by http://www.birdlife.org 12 July2019)
2018
- AUSTRALIA: Indigenous fire methods protect land before and after the Tathra bushfire (Published by http://www.abc.net.au/ 18 September 2018)
- ZIMBABWE: Roles of stakeholders in veld fire management (Published by http://www.chronicle.co.zw/ 21 June 2018)
- USA: NW Tribes Bringing Traditional Wildfires Back To Their Lands (Published by https://www.opb.org/ 06 May 2018)
- AUSTRALIA: Traditional burn lights idea (Published by http://www.riverineherald.com.au/ 04 May 2018)
- SOUTH AFRICA: Cape Town seasonal fire fighters receive recognition (Published by http://www.fireandrescue.co/ 04 May 2018)
- USA: Evacuation due to wildfire to be simulated at Buck Mountain Saturday (Published by http://www.journalpatriot.com/ 02 May 2018)
2017
- AUSTRALIA: Arnhem Land rangers blending traditional and high-tech methods to earn carbon credits (published by http://www.abc.net.au 10 September 2017)
- AUSTRALIA: We were putting out the flames with a Bunnings backpack (published by https://www.dailymercury.com.au 21 August 2017)
- BOTSWANA: Birdlife Botswana takes a lead in veld fire battle (published by http://www.mmegi.bw 19 June 2017)
- GUATEMALA: Land rights help fight fires in Guatemala nature reserve – study (published by http://news.trust.org 15 June 2017)
- ZIMBABWE: Farmers raising bees help protect Zimbabwes forests (published by https://learningenglish.voanews.com 13 June 2017)
- USA: Community Magic: Community-Based Asset Mapping Establishes New Connections for Fire Adaptation (published by https://fireadaptednetwork.org 08 June 2017)
- USA: CAL FIRE Launches New Ready for Wildfire App (published by https://yubanet.com 17 April 2017)
- ZIMBABWE: Great Zimbabwe community elders panic over veld fires (published by http://www.radiovop.com 30 March 2017)
- TURKEY: ‘Father forest’ walks through turkey’s woods, educating people about forest fires (published by https://www.dailysabah.com 29 March 2017)
- USA: Arnold resident to be presented with national wildfire mitigation award (published by http://thepinetree.net 18 January 2017)
2016
- AUSTRALIA: Community group protecting the elderly during heatwaves and bushfires (published by http://www.abc.net.au 16 December 2016)
- AUSTRALIA: TFS bushfire-ready program stokes community interest (published by http://www.themercury.com.au 08 November 2016)
- USA: Fire Safe Councils to Host Wildland Fire Workshop (published by http://ramonajournal.com 03 November 2016)
- USA: Wildfires never go away … but what about wildland commission? (published by http://www.dcourier.com 08 October 2016)
- USA: Los padres national forest looks to better defend mountain communities from wildfire threats (published by https://www.noozhawk.com 02 October 2016)
- AUSTRALIA: Visitor influx caues granville harbour big growing pains (published by http://www.news.com.au 24 September 2016)
- AUSTRALIA: Indigenous rangers share ancient knowledge to help fight bushfires on north stradbroke island (published by http://www.abc.net.au 22 September 2016)
- INDONESIA: Indonesia forest fires: has this Sumatran village got the solution (published by https://www.theguardian.com 14 September 2016)
- JAMAICA: JFB to hand out firefighting kits (published by http://jis.gov.jm 13 September 2016)
- AUSTRALIA: Yallingup residents rule elements with fire resistant garden (published by http://www.watoday.com.au 02 August 2016)
- USA: Ready, Set, Go! Helping Your Community Become Fire Wise (published by http://www.bigcountryhomepage.com 27 July 2016)
- USA: 3 Wildfire-Prone Regions of Maui Nui Covered in New Plan (published by http://mauinow.com 27 July 2016)
- INDONESIA: Communities in Riau, Indonesia now more aware of impact of open burning (published by http://www.nst.com.my 20 July 2016)
- USA: YMCA Work Crew Receives Public Lands Day Training (published by http://www.ladailypost.com 18 July 2016)
- USA: Communities help prevent wildfire by cleaning up their neighborhood (published by http://komonews.com 18 July 2016)
- THAILAND: District a model for success in beating haze (published by www.nationmultimedia.com 02 May 2016)
- GAMBIA: Forest stakeholders trained to tackle bushfire in North Bank (published by http://thepoint.gm 28 April 2016)
- INDIA: Fight forest fire, get rewarded, says Odisha govt (published by http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com 23 April 2016)
- AUSTRALIA: Bushfire board game an instructive lesson in safety (published by www.theage.com.au 08 December 2015)
- ZIMBABWE: Muzarabani villagers take lead in veld fire prevention (published by www.newsday.co.zw 16 June 2015)
