GFMC) and the Global Wildland Fire Network (GWFN)

RAP Mid-Term Review

Contributions by the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) and the Global Wildland Fire Network (GWFN)

Information submitted on 30 September 2017

1. Preface: Mandates of GFMC for involvement / action:

1993-2014 Leader, UNECE / FAO Team of Specialists on Forest Fire http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/intro/team.html

2001 – ongoing UNISDR Wildland Fire Advisory Group http://www.unisdr.org/2005/task-force/tf-working-groups4-eng.htm

2001 – ongoing Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit, Emergency Services Branch http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/emergency/un_gfmc.htm

2005 – ongoing GFMC Associate Institute United Nations University http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/programmes/un/unu/unu.htm

2006 – ongoing Implementing partner of the OSCE http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/GlobalNetworks/SEEurope/SEEurope_8.html

2007 – ongoing GFMC Specialized Euro-Mediterranean Centre of the Council of Europe (CoE) under the European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement (EUR-OPA) (since 2007), by decision of CoE (2017) serving as Coordinator of the Eurasia Team of Specialists on Landscape Fire Management (starting 2018) http://www.coe.int/en/web/europarisks/gfmc

2. Implementation / contributions by GFMC / GWFN

B.3.5: Maintain and strengthen wildfire early warning and monitoring capacities, and promotion of integrated fire management approaches, i.e. the targeted extraction of biomass for both renewable energy provision and reduction of wildfire hazard; and the integration of communities / private forest users in the achieving these goals at local level.

I. Wildfire early warning capacities

Responsible country or international entity(ies)

- GFMC, OSCE and JICA

Location of the actions undertaken

- Global - South Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia - Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Description of the actions undertaken

Development and / or upgrading of Wildland (Landscape) Fire Early Warning Systems for operational use (decision support in landscape fire management and public warning) at various levels in UNECE member States: Global level (coarse resolution), regional level (medium resolution) and exemplary in the Western Balkans at national level (high-resolution for operational decision support):

- Global: Consolidation and refining of the Global Wildland Fire Early Warning System (EWS) http://gfmc.online/gwfews/index-12.html - Regional EWS (S-Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia): http://gfmc.online/intro/OSCE-ENVSEC-GFMC-S-Caucasus-FDRS-Workshop-29-30-Oct- 2015-Agenda.pdf - Development of a piloting national early warning and decision-support system in the Western Balkans (not publicly online) (supported by JICA)

Results achieved

Wildland Fire Early Warning Systems are in place for operational use (decision support and public warning) at global level (coarse resolution), regional level (medium resolution) and exemplary in the Western Balkans at national level (high-resolution for operational decision support):

- Global: The Global Wildland Fire EWS is operational - South Caucasus: The regional EWS is in its final stage of development for operational application - The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: A national EWS is the base for a decision support system for fire management in FYROM and is currently promoted in neighboring West Balkan countries for developing similar national system: http://mkffis.cuk.gov.mk/index.php/pocetna_strana/pocetna?lang=en

Lessons identified

Multiple actors are working successfully based on the networking structures initiated by the GFMC and the UNECE/FAO Team of Specialists on Forest Fire. The work is continued by the Global Wildland Fire Network under the auspices of UNISDR, Council of Europe, OSCE and specialized UN agencies and is instrumental in operationalizing technological innovations in fire management.

II. Promotion of integrated fire management approaches

Responsible country or international entity(ies)

- GFMC and CoE / EUR-OPA

Location of the actions undertaken

- UNECE Region - National: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia and Ukraine

Description of the actions undertaken

Integrated Fire Management (IFM) includes participatory approaches (integration of local communities) in landscape fire management, as well as the integration of prescribed fire as a management tool in forestry, fire management (wildfire hazard reduction) and conservation.

Actions undertaken (exemplary):

(a) Capacitation of local communities in the defense of rural assets against wildfire and safe use of fire in agriculture (b) Capacitation of forestry and conservation authorities in the application of prescribed fire for wildfire hazard reduction and biodiversity management (http://gfmc.online/programmes/natcon/natcon.html)

- Development of Guidelines “Defence of Villages, Farms and Other Rural Assets against Wildfires: Guidelines for Rural Populations, Local Communities and Municipality Leaders in the Balkan Region” - Training with local stakeholders for safe agricultural burning (in a country where agricultural burning is not yet forbidden by law (example: Georgia) - Training of forestry and conservation authorities in the use of prescribed fire for wildfire hazard reduction and conservation

Results achieved

- The baseline version of the Guidelines has been translated for the use in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece and Montenegro and Serbia: http://gfmc.online/manag/cbfim_11.html - Experiences in capacitating local communities in the safe use of prescribed fire have been published: http://gfmc.online/globalnetworks/seeurope/Fire-Management-Concept- Dedoplistskaro-Georgia-GFMC-GIZ-WP-70-E NG.pdf - Demonstration and training of forestry personnel in the use of prescribed fire for wildfire hazard reduction has been implemented in Ukraine in the frame of the 6th International Fire Management Week (Kyiv / Boyarka, Ukraine, 25-27 March 2015): http://gfmc.online/globalnetworks/BalticRegion/UkraineFireManagementWeek2015.html - Training of conservation and forestry authorities in the use of prescribed fire for conservation (biodiversity management, management of Natura 2000 sites) has been accomplished in Poland in the frame of the first National Conference “Fire in Forest Management and Nature Conservation”, and a scientific-technical prescribed fire experiment (demonstration burn) was organized by the Directorate General of the State Forests of Poland and the State Fire Service of Poland and the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Zielona Gora. The conference day (Osrodek Wapoczynkowy “Lesnik”, Lagow, 17 March 2015): http://gfmc.online/globalnetworks/BalticRegion/PolandFireManagementWeek2015.html

Lessons identified

The science and technology transfer to the practitioner’s level in countries, where principles of integrated fire management so far were not yet applied, has been demonstrated in various UNECE member States. Acceptance of innovative methods in the prevention of wildfires and the use of prescribed fire has been reached in several member States.

D.3.1: Organise a regional forum on forests and human health to review the situation, opportunities and challenges including the specific hazards and risks (e.g., air pollution from forest and other vegetation fires affecting human health and security), as well as benefits to human health from forests, and make recommendations for future work, at the international and national level

III. Organise a regional forum on forests and human health

Responsible country or international entity(ies)

GFMC and WMO

Location of the actions undertaken

Exemplary in South East Asia – model for UNECE

Description of the actions undertaken

Emissions from vegetation fires (landscape fires) do not only affect the atmosphere and climate but also human health and security. Globally the vulnerability of society to smoke pollution is increasing (cf. the severe fire smoke pollution crisis in Western Russia in 2010). Advanced research meanwhile confirms the health problems associated with vegetation fire smoke emissions.

After the WHO Regional Office for Europe, European Centre for Environment and Health, had organized a workshop entitled “Health aspects of wildfire smoke” (Bonn, Germany, 21 May 2012, http://gfmc.online/intro/WHO-ECEH-THL-Wildfires-Health-Workshop-21-May-2012-Agenda.pdf), supported by GMFC, no follow-up action in Europe could be achieved. Therefore, an activity was prepared by WMO, GFMC and other partners in South East Asia by organizing a regional consultation. The activity aimed to discuss the setting-up of regional Vegetation Fire and Smoke Pollution Warning and Advisory Systems (VFSP-WAS) and to support the potential foundation of regional centers, possibly Regional Vegetation Fire and Smoke Pollution Warning and Advisory Center (RVFSP-WAC) in various regions of the world. An international workshop was organized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the International Biomass Burning Initiative (IBBI), the Global Wildland Fire Network / GFMC and other partners, hosted by the Indonesian Agency for Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG), in Jakarta, Indonesia, 29 August – 1 September 2016: - http://gfmc.online/course/meeting/2016/IBBI-WMO-GWFN-BMKG-Workshop-Agenda-Final- Draft.pdf

Results achieved

The recommendations of the workshop have been published in the report “Vegetation Fire and Smoke Pollution Warning and Advisory System (VFSP-WAS): Concept Note and Expert Recommendations”, WMO GAW Report No. 235: - http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/arep/gaw/documents/Draft_GAW_235.pdf

In view of the increasing wildfire occurrence in the UNECE Region and the associated threats to human health and security, the recommendations are of significant importance for the UNECE Region.

Lessons identified

Although the workshop focused on the South-East Asian region, the concepts remain applicable to other regions globally and should be observed for considering setting up Regional Vegetation Fire and Smoke Pollution Warning and Advisory Centers, including in the UNECE Region.

C.1.5: Increase investment in the education and training of contractors, forest workers and forest owners as well as key personnel along the processing stages (operators, engineers, designers, developers, architects etc.).

IV. Development of competency-based standards and training materials for fire management

Responsible country or international entity(ies)

GFMC

Location of the actions undertaken

UNECE Region

Description of the actions undertaken

In most countries of the UNECE Region the responsibility for landscape fire (including forest fire) management is shared by different agencies and land owners, e.g. wildfire prevention is in the responsibility of forest services and public / private land owners while in most countries firefighting is done by fire (and rescue) services. Only in a few countries there are specialized services adequately trained and equipped for vegetation fire management. The capacitation of the non-specialized services as well as voluntary groups and local communities requires special training. Therefore, the GFMC developed between 2006 to 2009 the EuroFire Competency Standards and Training Materials for fire management to be used for training firefighters of those fire service institutions, which do not have such specialized training materials (apart of structural firefighting).

Besides the increasing effectiveness of actors well-trained in fire management, one of the important goals of the competency standards is to increase the attractiveness and safety of “green jobs”.

Another goal is related to interoperability: Fire services often need to cooperate in wildfire emergency management along and across borders. Common training materials and joint training in multiple languages will contribute to enhanced interoperability of countries working together in fire management.

Results achieved

By 2017, Competency Standards and Training Materials are available in 14 languages for the use in more than 50 countries (UNECE Region and globally): http://www.euro-fire.eu/. They are increasingly used for joint regional training such as the regional fire management training courses for Southeast Europe and the South Caucasus in 2010 and 2015.

Lessons identified

The EuroFire standards and training materials are an important contribution to enhance the skills and competency of rural public fire services and volunteer groups and other civil society groups and to be used as a common standard for international wildfire emergency management.

Pillar E: Policies and institutions relevant to the forest sector promote sustainable forest management; policy making is evidence-based, policy instruments are effective, efficient and equitable

V. Development of national fire management policies and interoperability in cross- boundary fire management

Responsible country or international entity(ies)

GFMC, CoE / EUR-OPA, OSCE

Location of the actions undertaken

UNECE Region

Description of the actions undertaken

Most UNECE member States do not have a specific policy addressing landscape fires. One of the main tasks of the GFMC and its Regional Fire Monitoring Centers in Southeast Europe / Caucasus (based in Skopje, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) and Eastern Europe (based in Kiev, Ukraine) is to provide advisory services to UNECE member States in developing national fire management policies. This is in continuation of the mandate of the former UNECE/FAO Team of Specialists on Forest Fire, whose mandate was completed in 2014.

At regional level, cooperation agreements of procedures are required to establish rules (guidelines, SOPs, protocols) regulating border-crossing cooperation in fire management. Following the UNECE/FAO Forum on Cross-boundary Fire Management (Geneva, November 2013), the International Wildfire Preparedness Mechanism (IWPM) was launched, which aims at facilitating exchange of fire management knowledge and expertise globally: - http://gfmc.online/iwpm/index-7.html

Results achieved

The process of developing national fire management policies has been initiated in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine. Armenia is the first country that has enacted a national policy (2014), in other countries the process is underway.

The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is a good example where the Regional Fire Monitoring Center (RFMC) in cooperation with the Government of The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is in the process of inter-agency stakeholder and multination (regional) discussions: - http://gfmc.online/globalnetworks/seeurope/SEEurope_1.html - http://gfmc.online/intro/CoE-RFMC-GFMC-National-RT-Fire-Mgmt-2016- Recommendations.pdf - http://gfmc.online/intro/CoE-RFMC-GFMC-Regional-Fire-Mgmt-Consultation-2016- Recommendations.pdf

For international cross-boundary cooperation in fire management the GFMC has developed a set of “tools” that can be used by countries to build fire management capacities and fire management policies: - http://gfmc.online/iwpm/tools-3.html (http://www.eecentre.org/vegetation-fires-and-global- change-towards-enhancing-fire-management-and-wildfire-preparedness-capacities/)

By decentralizing the work of GFMC, three Regional Fire Monitoring Centers have been set up within the UNECE Region, aiming at working at the science-policy interface: - Southeast Europe / Caucasus (Skopje, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) (2010): http://www.rfmc.mk/ - Eastern Europe (Kiev, Ukraine) (2013): http://nubip.edu.ua/en/reefmc - Central Eurasia (Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation) (2017): To be opened formally in 2018

Additional regional centers have been set up in Mongolia (2015) and are currently under construction in South America (Brazil & Chile, 2017).

Lessons identified

Experience has revealed that the development of national fire management policies requires a multi- year approach.

In many countries, where responsibilities for forestry and fire management are with the states and not at federal level, this process is more difficult as compared to countries where this responsibility is under the jurisdiction at central (national) level.