The Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) has called for an integrated fire management strategy to control fires near forests.
It further recommends: paying more attention to monitoring wildfire carbon gas emissions as a potential contributor to climate change; burning agricultural waste early in the dry season and avoiding burning during high winds; and adopting integrated approaches to fire management.
9 September 2011: The Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), which consists of 14 international organizations and secretariats, has called on countries to pay greater attention to managing fires on land bordering forests.
Following an increase in wildfires in many countries, Pieter van Lierop, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), recommends that local communities should be trained in fire prevention in forests and adjacent areas through out the whole year rather than just during fire season. He also called for more attention to be paid to monitoring wildfire carbon gas emissions as a potential contributor to climate change. The CPF calls for burning agricultural waste early in the dry season and avoiding burning during high winds. It also advocates integrated approaches to fire management, including fire prevention, controlled burning, early warning, preparedness and fire suppression.
The FAO is currently forming a multi-donor trust fund programme on fire management. [FAO Press Release]