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GEFF LAC and Regional Working Groups

 

Latin American and Caribbean countries are investing in forest fire prevention by collaborating with experts from the European Union. One example of this is the creation of the Group of Experts on Forest Fires in Latin America and the Caribbean (GEFF LAC), composed of fire managers from relevant ministries and agencies. The group is responsible for advising, guiding and supporting international collaboration and fire-related policy development in the region to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and best practices on forest fire management, which, together with the harmonised information provided by the Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), could lead to strategic actions to minimise the impact of forest fires in the region and improve fire policies at national and regional level. The exchange of knowledge and best practices is at the core of this initiative. 

At the 5th Expert Group Meeting on Wildland Fire (7 November 2023), the GEFF LAC, in agreement with the moderators, established different working groups for the purpose of examining areas of interest and priority of Integrated Fire Management (IFM).

Note for the members of the Working Groups of the GEFF LAC

 

Click in the following link to access the list of the coordinators and participants of the six Working Groups

 

The main characteristics of the GEFF LAC are as follows:

 

Main objective ▾

Facilitate the exchange of knowledge and best practices on forest fire management.

 

Impact ▾

Improve fire policies at national and regional level, and minimise the damage caused by forest fires in the region.

 

Goals ▾

1) Assist LAC countries in the preparation of policy proposals and initiatives in the area of integrated fire management, including prevention and monitoring, with the support of the European Union, international organisations such as FAO and UNEP and regional organisations such as ACTO.

 

2)Receive information and interact with international organisations, other regional groups and contribute to the dissemination of information/knowledge on integrated fire management.

 

3)Promote the exchange of experiences and good practices in the area of integrated fire management (knowledge, prevention, monitoring and any other aspect related to the integrated use of fire in the region).

 

 

Collaboration Activities
6
Main priority themes

 

The GEFF-LAC established seven priority themes on which they can propose collaboration activities between the countries and organisations involved.

 

6
Working groups

 

The groups will work in a coordinated and joint manner in areas of interest and common challenges.
36
Proposed activities

 

Policy proposals and initiatives in the area of integrated fire management, including prevention and monitoring.

 

GEFF LAC has developed a program of collaboration activities in the context of the main challenges of Integrated Fire Management (IFM) in the LAC region. The program was formulated through an inclusive and transparent process that involved extensive consultations and meetings between the countries and organizations involved in the initiative.

Each group is assigned various activities to work on according to an established plan.

 

Groups Activities Program  Main coordinators
Group - 1

Forest fire prevention ▾

  1. 1. Collaboration in the estimation of economic losses due to fires, avoided damage, prevention vs. fighting, etc.
  2. 2. Culture and traditional use of fire.
  3. 3. Fire ecology.
  4. 4. Prevention measures based on natural infrastructure and nature-based solutions.
  5. 5. Alternatives to the use of fire in agriculture and livestock.
  6. 6. Technical fire such as prescribed burns or controlled burns.
  7. 7. Community brigades.
  8. 8. Work on the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI).
  9. 9. Investigation of the causes of ignition and prosecution of the perpetrators.
  10. 10. Communication and social appropriation of information systems.
Brazil and Colombia
Group - 2

Ecosystem restoration ▾

  1. 1. Management of burnt areas.
Colombia
Group - 3

Information systems and fire-fighting support ▾

  1. 1. Fire risk estimation and mapping.
  2. 2. Fire danger prediction systems.
  3. 3. Early detection or fire warning systems (thermal anomalies from VIIRS, MODIS, GOES, etc.)
  4. 4. Near real-time fire mapping systems (based on thermal anomalies).
  5. 5. Fire mapping systems (non-NRT, based on Sentinel-2, MODIS, VIIRS, etc.).
  6. 6. Training in fire information systems, including GWIS.
  7. 7. Proposals for harmonisation of systems in LAC.
  8. 8. Fire severity indices based on e.g. dNBR, etc.
  9. 9. Establishment of a collaborative platform for systems development, country profiles, including good practices.
  10. 10. Fuel mapping.
  11. 11. Analysis of the evolution of critical fires (fire analysts).
  12. 12. Fire spread analysis (FARSITE, FAST mech., etc.).
  13. 13. Potential propagation-based decision making systems (DSS).
Mexico, Bolivia and Peru
Group - 4

Collaborative firefighting operational training ▾

  1. 1. Regional mechanism for cooperation in forest fire suppression.
  2.  
Chile and Peru
Group - 5

Bases for national and regional policy ▾

  1. 1. Compilation of studies carried out in the country and the region.
  2. 2. Preparation of an annual report on fires in LAC.
  3. 3. FAO 5 Rs document in Spanish and Portuguese.
  4. 4. Use of the IFM and its relationship with climate change.
  5. 5. Regulatory legislation and public policy on IFM.
  6. 6. Joint awareness-raising and outreach campaigns.
  7. 7. Education and inclusion of information on forest fires.
Ecuador and Uruguay
Group - 6

Co-operation projects not included in the previous themes ▾

  1. 1. Knowledge exchange:
  2. - Creation of new training courses
  3. - Use of existing training courses
  4. 2. Support to fire management in border areas (e.g. Chaco, Orinoquia, Andes, Pantanal, Pampeana, Patagonia, etc.).
  5. 3. Promote the visibility of the group at national and regional political level.
Uruguay

 

Actions Map

 

In the context of international collaboration, the dissemination and visualisation of existing initiatives promotes and facilitates the articulation of activities between actors. The actions map seeks to disseminate the experiences and good practices carried out in the LAC countries belonging to the GEFF in the field of forest fire management, as well as to facilitate the establishment of strategic alliances.

Most of the programmes, instruments and organisations presented below can be consulted in the attached table for further information.

 

 

 LAC Forest Fire Expert Group countries

[O]: Main responsible organisations

[A]: Main actions implemented or ongoing

[H]: Main instruments developed

 
 

 

 

Acronym/Name Type of entry Full name Country
Guyana Forestry Commission Organism Guyana Forestry Commission Guyana
Civil Defence Commission Organism Civil Defence Commission Guyana
DGGDF Organism Directorate-General for Forestry Management and Development Bolivia
SENAMHI Organism National Meteorology and Hydrology Service Bolivia
MMAyA Organism Ministry of Environment and Water Bolivia
Ministry of Spatial Planning and the Environment Organism Ministry of Spatial Planning and the Environment | Suriname
SIMB Instrument Forest Monitoring and Information System Bolivia
NCCR Organism National Coordination Center For Disaster Relief Suriname
SATRIFO Instrument Monitoring and early warning system for forest fire risks Bolivia
Observatorio Nacional de Servicio Climático Instrument National Climate Service Observatory Bolivia
PNFR Instrument National Afforestation and Reforestation Programme Bolivia
INPE Organism National Space Research Institute Brazil
INMET Organism National Meteorological Institute Brazil
Prevfogo Organism National Centre for Forest Fire Prevention and Control Brazil
PCB Instrument Climate Projections Portal in Brazil Brazil
CIMAN Organism National Multi-Agency Integrated Operational Coordination Centre Brazil
IBAMA Organism Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources Brazil
KBS Organism Fire Brigade Suriname Suriname
SBB Organism Foundation for Forest Management and Forest Supervision Suriname
CENSIPAM Organism Operations and Management Center of the Amazonian Protection System Brazil
BRIF Organism Federal Brigades Brazil
CIMAN virtual Instrument CIMAN virtual Brazil
Programa Queimadas Instrument Queimadas Programme Brazil
WebGIS Instrument Virtual database of coastal ecosystems of the Campos Basin Brazil
ALARMES Instrument Alarmes Brazil
Panel del Fuego Instrument Fire Panel Brazil
PAMGIA Instrument Platform for Geospatial Analysis and Monitoring of Environmental Information Brazil
Sisfogo Instrument National Fire Information System Brazil
MCTI Organism Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations Brazil
AdaptaBrasil MCTI Instrument AdaptaBrasil - Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations Brazil
CENEPRED Organism National Centre for Disaster Risk Estimation, Prevention and Reduction Peru
SENAMHI Organism National Meteorological and Hydrological Service Peru
SERNANP Organism National Service of Natural Areas Protected by the State Peru
MINAM Organism Ministry of Environment Peru
IGP Organism Geophysical Institute of Peru Peru
INBP Organism National Fire Department Peru
PREVAED Instrument Vulnerability Reduction and Disaster Emergency Response Budget Programme Peru
PPRRD Instrument Disaster Risk Reduction and Prevention Plan Peru
IDESEP Instrument Spatial Data Infrastructure of SENAMHI Peru Peru
SINAGERD Instrument National Disaster Risk Management System Peru
SERFOR Organism National Forest Service Peru
SERNANP Organism National Service of State Protected Areas Peru
CGBVP Organism General Volunteer Fire Brigade of Peru Peru
CCFA Organism Armed Forces Peru
INDECI Organism National Institute of Civil Defence Peru
SERFOR EDUCA Instrument SERFOR Educa Platform Peru
Geoservidor Instrument Geoservidor - Territorial Environmental Information Platform Peru
PPRRIF Instrument Forest Fire Risk Reduction and Prevention Plan Peru
SNIFFS Instrument National Forestry and Wildlife Information System Peru
SNMF Organism National Fire Management Service Argentina
SMN Organism National Weather Service Argentina
DNB Organism National Fire Directorate Argentina
Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development Organism Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development Argentina
National Forestry Statistics Programme Instrument National Forestry Statistics Programme Argentina
CONAF Organism National Forestry Corporation Chile
MMINAGRI Organism Ministry of Agriculture Chile
DMC Organism Meteorological Directorate of Chile Chile
UAD Organism Analysis and Diagnosis Unit Chile
OECV Activity Vegetable Fuel Disposal Works Chile
GEOPIF Instrument Georeferencing Platform for the Prevention of Forest Fires Chile
Forest fire brigades Organism Forest fire brigades Chile
CENCOR-CENCO Organism Regional Coordination Centres/ National Coordination Centres Chile
SIDCO Instrument Digital Information System for Operations Control Chile
GEO SAQ Instrument Georeferencing for the Burn Assistance System Chile
IDEAM Organism Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies Colombia
DNBC Organism National Fire Department of Colombia Colombia
MINAMBIENTE Organism Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development Colombia
UNGRD Organism National Disaster Risk Management Unit Colombia
SIGPI Instrument Geographic Information System for Fire Prevention Colombia
Amazon Vision Instrument Amazon Vision Colombia
SNGRD Instrument National Information System for Disaster Risk Management Colombia
SINCHI Organism Amazonian Institute for Scientific Research Colombia
SIAC Instrument Colombian Environmental Information System Colombia
Hot spots monitoring system Instrument Hot spots monitoring system Colombia
SINA Instrument National Environmental System Colombia
MoSCAL Instrument SIATAC Module for Monitoring Compliance with Local Agreements on native forest conservation Colombia
IINAMHI Organism National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology Ecuador
MAATE Organism Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition Ecuador
SNAP Instrument National System of Protected Areas Ecuador
SNGRE Organism National Secretariat for Risk and Emergency Management Ecuador
ENMIF Instrument National Strategy for Integrated Fire Management Ecuador
ENCC Instrument National Climate Change Strategy Ecuador
PASF Instrument Amazonia Sin Fuego Programme Ecuador
BRIF Organism Federal Brigades Ecuador
SNMB Instrument National Forest Monitoring System Ecuador
SNDGRE Instrument Decentralised National Risk Management System Ecuador
INFONA Organism National Forestry Institute Paraguay
MADES Organism Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development Paraguay
RedMIF Instrument Integrated Fire Management Network Paraguay
GEOLab Instrument Geographic Information Systems and Earth Observation Laboratory Paraguay
STP Organism Technical Secretariat for Planning Paraguay
AEP Organism Space Agency of Paraguay Paraguay
CBVP Organism Voluntary Fire Brigades of Paraguay Paraguay
CEMF Organism State Fire Management Centre Mexico
GMF Organism Fire Management Department Mexico
CRMF Organism Regional Fire Management Centre Mexico
SMN Organism National Weather Service Mexico
SPPIF Instrument Forest Fire Danger Prediction System Mexico
SATIF Instrument Forest Fire Alert System Mexico
CONAFOR Organism Administration of Fire Management Department of National Forestry Commission Mexico
Fire Management Programme 2020-2024 Instrument Fire Management Programme 2020-2024 Mexico
SCI Instrument Wildland Fire Incident Command System Mexico
INUMET Organism Uruguayan Institute of Meteorology Uruguay
DGF Organism Forestry Directorate General Uruguay
SINAE Organism National Emergency System Uruguay
NDB Organism National Fire Directorate Uruguay
General Plan for the Prevention of Forest Fires Instrument General Plan for the Prevention of Forest Fires Uruguay
PNA Ciudades Instrument National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Variability and Change in Cities and Infrastructure Uruguay
SAMIF Instrument Forest Fire Warning and Monitoring System Uruguay
MIRA Instrument Comprehensive Monitor of Risks and Impacts Uruguay
MAIF Instrument Analysis Table of Forest Fires and Open Burns Uruguay
SCI Instrument Incident Command System Uruguay