Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Food and Agriculture Organizationof the United Nations (FAO)
The FAO programme in forestry addresses one of the most important, complex and controversial issues of modern times – how to conserve the world’s forests, while also using trees and forests to contribute to the economic, social and environmental well-being of the world’s rapidly expanding population. Through provision of a neutral forum for policy and technical dialogue; information and advice; and direct technical cooperation, FAO helps member countries to conserve trees, forests and the biological diversity they contain, and sustainably derive products and services from them. Technical advice for the protection of forest against destructive wildfires and the use of prescribed fire in forest ecosystem management and in land-use systems, particularly through community participation (Community-Based Fire Management) represent a key activity of FAOs Forestry Department.
FAO Forest Fire Websites
Development of a non-legally binding Strategy to Enhance International Cooperation in Fire Management (2005-2007)
Note: The original repository of the strategy documents is provided at the first web link. The following links are downloads from the GFMC repository of FAO fire documentation
- Fire Management Strategy About: http://www.fao.org/forestry/site/35488/en/
- Fire Management Voluntary Guidelines (PDF, 0.3 MB)
- Implementation Partnership (to follow)
- Fire Management Global Assessment 2006 (PDF, 1.9 MB)
- Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005 Regional Fire Reports (2006)
- Review of International Cooperation 2006 (PDF, 0.6 MB)
- Report of the Eighteenth Session of the Committee on Forestry (COFO), FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy,13 to 16 March 2007, with Item 6 Forest Protection, which includes recommendations on international cooperation in fire management (PDF, 50 KB)
Development of an International Wildland Fire Accord (2004-2005)
- Framework for the Development of the International Wildland Fire Accord (agreed by GFMC-ISDR-FAO-GOFC/GOLD, May 2004, final version 12 April 2005) (en español)
- Agenda of the FAO Ministerial Meeting on International Cooperation in Forest Fire Management (Rome, 14 March 2005) (PDF, 80 KB) (en español)
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FAO Background Paper for the Ministerial Meeting on International Cooperation in Forest Fire Management (PDF, 100 KB) (en español)
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Issues Identified by the Regional FAO Forestry Commissions in 2004 (Recommendations towards international cooperation in wildland fire management are highlighted)
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Recommendations of the first meeting of the UN-ISDR Wildland Fire Advisory Group and the Global Wildland Fire Network (GFMC / Germany, 3-4 December 2004)
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Additional statement of the UN-ISDR Wildland Fire Advisory Group Recommendations for the Development of an International Wildland Fire Accord (March 2005) (PDF, 70 KB)
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Global Wildland Fire Network poster exhibition at the Ministerial Meeting / COFO (Rome, 15-19 March 2005) (JPG, 1 MB)
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On-site statement by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN-ISDR) / Wildland Fire Advisory Group / Global Wildland Fire Network at the FAO Ministerial Meeting on Forests, 17th Session of the FAO Committee on Forestry (COFO), 14-19 March 2005 (presented by the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC), 16 March 2005)
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Summary of the Ministerial Meeting on Forests and the Seventeenth Session of the FAO Committee on Forestry, 14-19 March 2005 (published by ENB, 21 March 2005)
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Statement of the Ministerial Meeting on Forests (Rome, 14 March 2005; statements related to wildland fire are marked yellow) (en español)
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Final Report of the 17th Meeting of the FAO Committee on Forestry (COFO) (Rome, 19 March 2005; statements related to wildland fire are marked yellow; versions in other FAO languages can be downloaded at: www.fao.org/forestry/site/cofo/en)
Reports of Meetings
- Public Policies Affecting Forest Fires (1998)
- Rome Declaration on Forestry (1999)
- FAO/ITTO International Expert Meeting on Forest Fire Management (2001)
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FAO Activities in Forest Fire Management: Report on Progress and Future Plans (2003)
Selected Publications
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ECE / FAO International Forest Fire News (since 1988)
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FAO Guidelines on Fire Management in Temperate and Boreal Forests (2002)
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Legal Frameworks for Forest Fire Management: International Agreements and National Legislation (September 2004)
Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005 Regional Fire Reports (2006)
Press Releases
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FAO Press Release “Fires are increasingly damaging the world’s forests” (9 September 2003)
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FAO Press Release “Reducing forest fires by training local communities” (25 July 2005)
“Armer les communautés locales contre les feux de forêt” (French version)
FAO / GFMC Partnership
In December 2004 FAO and the GFMC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation to
- improve the dissemination of information about forest fires through any appropriate means, including internet linkages, publications of relevant reports such as ‘FAO and the State of the World’s Forest (SOFO)’, and through the respective websites of the Parties
- develop fire management information systems
- develop, display and maintain wildland fire databases and country fire profiles
- jointly organize regional and international consultations, round tables and fire management workshops
- collaborate in preparing press releases or other materials for the media concerning wildland fire
- collaborate in Global Wildland Fire Assessments in the frame of the Global Forest Resources Assessments
- collaborate at UN inter-agency level to develop an international wildland fire agreement
