Building upon the FAO hosted Ministerial Meeting on Forests (Rome, 14 March 2005), the 17th Session of COFO (Rome, 15–19 March 2005) requested FAO:
• in collaboration with countries and other international partners, including the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, to develop a strategy to enhance international cooperation on wildland fire (para 28);
• to provide support for countries to develop and consolidate their national fire management systems and to build the technical and operational capacity required to engage in effective international cooperation (para 32).
It was further recommended that FAO:
• enhance its role in fire management, including through: (i) advocating fire management within the context of an integrated approach to forest management; (ii) promoting awareness that forest management is an effective means of fire prevention; (iii) underscoring the role of fire as a management tool in both agriculture and forestry; (iv) providing technical support for improved management of fuel loads in forests; (v) helping design and implement training, education and awareness-raising programmes on forest fire management, especially at the local level; and (vi) strengthening its efforts to monitor and manage information on forest fire management and disseminate such information, especially at regional and subregional levels (para 33);
• include forest fire management in its dialogue with the international assistance agencies of developed countries, with the World Bank and with the regional development banks (para 34);
• inform the fifth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) of the importance attached by the Ministerial Meeting on Forests and by the 17th Session of the Committee to international cooperation on forest fire management (para 35);
• continue its support for regional and national networks to manage fire as well as insects and disease, in collaboration with relevant organizations such as the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction and the Global Wildland Fire Network, and further requested that FAO work with partners to develop voluntary guidelines on the prevention, suppression and recovery from forest fire (para 53).
The overall work programme and mandate of FAO were recognized. FAO and its partners have already initiated cooperation (e.g. ITTO, GFMC, UNEP-Global Resource Information Database (GRID)/UMD, TNC), but further strengthening and development are necessary.
Table 3.1 shows current and planned contributions of FAO to the strategy to enhance international cooperation in implementing the strategic actions for fire management. The main beneficiaries and partners are countries. Beneficiaries listed in this table are international actors potentially interested in cooperation towards developing collective solutions.
TABLE 3.1
Contributions of FAO