Global Fire Management Hub

Background
Landscape fire issues are complex with many inter-related socio-economic and environmental factors. Humans have used fire for millennia – a traditional tool of smallholders and indigenous peoples to manage lands. Natural and cultural fires are important to maintain the composition and functioning of fire-dependent or fire-adapted ecosystems, such as tropical and subtropical savannas or boreal forests. However, as a consequence of land-use change and climate change, natural and cultural fire regimes are changing rapidly. Extreme wildfires are on the rise, negatively affecting sustainable development, threatening communities’ livelihoods and security. Landscape fire emissions constitute a threat to human health and affect the atmosphere and climate.

Following demands from international actors, a Global Fire Management Platform was first proposed by FAO and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) at the XV World Forestry Congress and welcomed by FAO Members during the 26th Session of the Committee on Forestry in 2022. The Global Fire Management Hub – or ‘Fire Hub’ - was officially launched at the 8th International Wildland Fire Conference in May 2023.

What does the Fire Hub do?

@FAO/Amy DuchelleThe Fire Hub brings together key partners to assist countries in building capacities to implement integrated fire management to reduce the negative impacts of wildfires on livelihoods, landscapes and global climate stability.

Over the past years, FAO has led the development of an Integrated Fire Management (IFM) approach that helps to ensure that all fire activities are integrated into national policies and plans, are cross-sectoral, and involve diverse stakeholders.

FAO champions this approach with five elements (the 5Rs): Review and Analysis, Risk Reduction, Readiness, Response and Recovery that help governments understand the causes and factors driving wildfires and seek long-term, sustainable solutions.

The Fire Hub will build on this approach and support the application of principles laid down by guidelines and best practices developed by the community of scientists and practitioners over the last decades, including the principles of the Fire Management Voluntary Guidelines (FAO, 2006) and the Landscape Fire Governance Framework (presented at the 8th International Wildland Fire Conference in 2023).

Thanks to the generous support provided by Germany, FAO is convening a series of technical workshops with key partners over the course of 2023 and 2024 to guide the integration of the 25-year-old Global Fire Monitoring Center (GMFC) into the Fire Hub and discuss its operationalization.

Activities
The Fire Hub’s work is divided into five main pillars. It aims to:

1. Enhance knowledge sharing by defining major fire concepts, developing new publications and guidelines and holding workshops and events, improving the availability of technical advice on integrated fire management;
2. Strengthen capacity building through trainings with national actors and a mentoring programme for young fire experts;
3. Improve fire risk assessment and early warning and related wildfire risk assessment methods and tools;
4. Create equal and diverse wildfire resilient communities, working together with Indigenous Peoples and building on traditional knowledge in a community-based approach to fire management; and
5. Offer policy support to enable governments to better incorporate integrated fire management into national and subnational policies.

Outputs of the Fire Hub’s work will include the promotion of holistic approaches nationally and subnationally, enhanced global collaboration and stakeholder understanding, inclusive participation of indigenous, rural communities and other underrepresented groups, and improved coordination and communication at international, regional, and national levels to elevate the profile of IFM.