Forest Fires, and Direct Advice to Member Countries
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iii FOREWORD Every year, large areas of savannah-type, mixed forest/grassland formations are affected by fires, particularly in the dry zones of Africa and South America. Forests in the humid tropics, although less prone to fire, are also affected by large fires, the most serious in recent times being in Indonesia in 1983 which burned 3.6 million ha in East Kalimantan, and the 1997-1998 fires. Coniferous forests in the humid tropics are often affected by fires: in the 1980s the area of pine forest in Honduras and Nicaragua burned annually amounted to some 3.5 percent of the total pine forest area of both countries, and large fires have burned natural and man-made tropical pine forests in Mexico and Indonesia (Northern Sumatra). Fire is also a permanent threat to forests in the subtemperate and temperate zones of North Africa and South America while from 1950 to 1990 fires in China are reported to have affected annually an average of 890,000 ha, the most damaging having been the fire which burned some 1.85 million hectares in the north-eastern province of Heilinjiang on 6 May 1987. In the former USSR, the total area burned on forest and other land from 1991-1995 was more than 5 million hectares. In North America, notwithstanding extensive, highly sophisticated prevention and control efforts, more than 2.3 million hectares of forest land still burn each year. Although some data on fires are available from some countries, most data are incomplete. Thus it is difficult to provide an overall estimate of the annual extent of fires in forests and other wooded lands. A crude estimate for the temperate/subtemperate and humid tropical zones of the developing world, leaving aside the extensive dry tropical zones, for which little reliable information exists, was of the order of 2 million hectares of forest and other wooded land per year during the 1980s. In the period 1983-1994, a total of 902,330 fires was recorded covering 20,059,346 hectares of forest land in the temperate forests of the Northern Hemisphere. The large fires of 1997-1998 served to focus public and international attention on the need to address not only the emergency response but also those policies in both the forestry and non-forestry sector which, directly or indirectly, contribute to these fires. For many years, FAO has provided information and technical assistance in the area of forest fire management, including data collection, production and dissemination of information, preparation of guidelines on forest fire management and status and reports on forest fires, and direct advice to member countries. Special attention has recently been given to information and public awareness in related policy, legal and institutional issues. Following suggestions made at the XI World Forestry Congress and the result of the Information Meeting on Forest Fires held on 12 November 1997 during the 29th FAO Conference, in response to the recent media attention to forest fires, FAO held a Meeting on Public Policies Affecting Forest Fires from 28 to 30 October 1998. The main objectives of the Meeting were to: · identify, analyse and discuss the public policies which contribute to forest fires; · collate information from institutions dealing with forest fires; · produce recommendations on planning and policies for fire prevention, control, mitigation, rehabilitation measures; · provide a strong message to member countries through FAO (as a neutral forum) on policy issues related to fire; · suggest actions to be taken by countries through a statement to the ministers responsible for forestry who met in Rome in March 1999. The Meeting brought together diverse participants among whom were key experts in land-use policies affecting forest fires from governments, the private sector, NGOs and international agencies. Report on Public Policies Affecting Forest Fires iv The Meeting has clarified the main public policies that contribute to forest fires and has offered a better understanding on the solutions to reducing their incidence. This publication is presented in two parts. Part I contains the regional papers analysing the main socio-political causes of forest fires and the measures/actions adopted to prevent and reduce their impacts; it provides the focus for the exchange of information and ideas among the participants and presents the main conclusions and recommendations of the meeting. Part II brings together the papers and contributions provided by the participants to the meeting. M. Hosny El-Lakany Assistant Director-General Forestry Department Report on Public Policies Affecting Forest Fires v TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword...................................................................................................................................iii PART I.................................................................................................................. 1 Executive Summary..................................................................................................................3 Agenda .......................................................................................................................................5 Report of the Meeting...............................................................................................................7 Public Policies Affecting Forest Fires in the Asia-Pacific Region...................................11 James Schweithelm Comments on the Situation in the Asia-Pacific Region .....................................................33 A.H. Moosvi Report of the Working Group on Asia-Pacific Region........................................................35 Public Policies Affecting Forest Fires in the Mediterranean Basin..................................39 Daniel Alexandrian and François Esnault Comments on the Situation in the Mediterranean Basin ...................................................59 Ricardo Vélez Report of the Working Group on the Mediterranean Basin ...............................................61 Public Policies Affecting Forest Fires in the Americas and the Caribbean.....................65 Robert W. Mutch, Bryan Lee and James H. Perkins Report of the Working Group on Americas and Caribbean.............................................109 Public Policies Affecting Forest Fires in Europe and Boreal/Temperate Asia ..............113 Johann G. Goldammer Comments on the Situation in Europe and Boreal/Temperate Asia ...............................165 Eduard Davidenko Report of the Working Group on Europe and Boreal/Temperate Asia ...........................169 Public Policies Affecting Forest Fires in the African Region..........................................173 Abdoulaye Kane Fire in Southern African Woodlands: Origins, Impacts, Effects and Control ...............181 Peter G.H. Frost Comments on the Situation in Africa .................................................................................207 M.W.M. Shaba Report of the Working Group on Africa .............................................................................215 List of Participants................................................................................................................219 PART II.............................................................................................................. 227 Presentation by Jorge E. Illueca Assistant Executive Director, Division of Environment Conventions, UNEP.......................................................................................229 Global Monitoring Fire Potential from Operational Satellites..........................................233 Forest Fires: Causes and Impacts, Prevention and Rehabilitation Information Note on Recent, Current and Future Activities within UNESCO’s Programmes...........239 Report on Public Policies Affecting Forest Fires vi Workshop on WHO Health Guidelines for Episodic Vegetation Fire Events.................245 Sustainable Forestry National and Global Perspectives - A Multi-year Training Programme Managed by the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Economic Development Institute of the World Bank (EDIEN).........................................255 Project Fire-Fight - Promoting International Collaboration to Address the Underlying Causes of Forest Fires World-Wide................................................................259 Forest Fire Management - Initiatives Taken by the International Tropical Timber Organization ..........................................................................................................................261 The Indonesian Perspective and Experience in Forest Fire Management.....................267 United States Southeast Asia Environmental Initiative (SEA-EI)....................................291 Fire: The Underlying Causes and Impacts of Fires in Southeast Asia...........................299 Reunión Sobre Políticas Públicas Que Afectan A Los Incendios Forestales: Argentina................................................................................................................................303 Plan Nacional de Manejo del Fuego: República Argentina..............................................307 Public Policies Affecting Forest Fires in Brazil.................................................................313 Póliticas y Estrategías de Protección Contra Incendios Forestales en Honduras.......319 Meeting on Public Policies Affecting Forest Fires: Mexico.............................................327 Results of Mexico’s 1998 Forest Fire Campaign...............................................................329