Building fire-smart landscapes: a collective action approach to wildfire management

This brochure presents the Fire-smart LandscapeGovernance Programme thorugh which we are co-creating and demonstrating locally owned solutions in five countries to reduce wildfire risk for more sustainable use of forests and trees in climate smart landscapes.

This review summarizes findings from 25 articles published together in Tropical Forest Issues 61 (Pasiecznik and Goldammer 2022), including contributions from 100 co-authors. Following a call for abstracts reviewed by a seven-strong panel of experts, case studies were selected from 16 countries in tropical America, Asia and Africa, along with articles summarizing the ecology, management and concepts related to fire management. This overarching synthesis draws out common lessons and key recommendations.

This 61st edition of Tropical Forest Issues (formerly ETFRN News) includes a collation of 25 articles from a total of more than 100 contributors. There are more than 20 case studies from across tropical America, Asia and Africa, with others that explain the importance of the ecology, management and concepts related to fire management. Many common issues are seen. A paradigm shift is seen as urgently required, towards a focus on locally-led, integrated visions of fire management that includes risk mitigation, fire prevention and post-fire recovery, and not just fire suppression. The negative impacts of ‘no fire’ policies are highlighted in several article, and that have led to more intense wildfires. Many studies emphasize the importance of indigenous and traditional knowledge related to fire management, especially from Latin America. Across the globe, the crucial role of community participation in the design and implementation of fire management policies. Innovative cases and practices are presented, with the potential for scaling. Also stressed, was that capacity development is needed at all levels, from national and sub-national coordination, to community volunteers – and not just for dedicated fire brigades. And where lacking, national integrated fire management strategies and actions plans must be developed, with cross-sectoral collaboration, clear roles and responsibilities, and adequate human and technical resources as a basis for concerted and effective fire prevention and suppression. Finally, more is needed to expand international efforts, that build on well-established organizations and networks for improving the generation, collation and sharing of experiences.