WORKING GROUP ON FOREST FIRES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION 2013-2016 WORK PLAN

BACKGROUND ESTABLISHED as working group in 2002 (18th Session of Silva Mediterranea, Rome) ROLE: Facilitate information exchanges on experiences, both successes and failures FFWG was established as working group at the same time as other 4 working groups in 2002, at the 18th Session of Silva Mediterranea held in Rome. Before 2002 the working group existed in the shape of a research network which was activated when needed and decided by the Committee. Its main role is mostly of an animator, facilitating the exchange of information and experiences among all the Mediterranean countries.

BACKGROUND GOAL: Forest fires prevention through SFM practices at local level, and building forest resilience at landscape level (in a context of Climate Change) TOOLS: National Focal Points to raise awareness of the common problems in a common framework It works with and specific goal, this is, to prevent forest fires using the only possible tool, the Sustainable Management of Forests and focusing in the local level, where practices have to be implemented to assure their effectiveness. Included in this goal is the necessary adaptation of Mediterranean Forest to Climate Change by improving its resilience. Its real tools are the focal points whose activities have to be oriented to raise the awareness of the relevant stakeholders on the need to look at the national and local problems in the frame of a common environment that is the Mediterranean Basin.

BACKGROUND GOAL: Forest fires prevention through SFM practices at local level, and building forest resilience at landscape level (in a context of Climate Change) TOOLS: National Focal Points to raise awareness of the common problems in a common framework It works with and specific goal, this is, to prevent forest fires using the only possible tool, the Sustainable Management of Forests and focusing in the local level, where practices have to be implemented to assure their effectiveness. Included in this goal is the necessary adaptation of Mediterranean Forest to Climate Change by improving its resilience. Its real tools are the focal points whose activities have to be oriented to raise the awareness of the relevant stakeholders on the need to look at the national and local problems in the frame of a common environment that is the Mediterranean Basin. 4

OBJECTIVE 1: FFWG network OBJECTIVE 2: Forest Fire Prevention WORK PLAN (2013-2016) OBJECTIVE 1: FFWG network OBJECTIVE 2: Forest Fire Prevention OBJECTIVE 3: Forest Fire Supression OBJECTIVE 4: Others At the 20th Session of Silva Mediterranea Committee, held in Sofia 2008, working groups were asked to develop a work plan for the period 2009-2012. The work plans were all presented and approved in 2009 at the COFO meeting in a special session of Silva Mediterranea. This are the four main objectives established for the forest fire working group. They have been identified based on the results of the previous work plan (2009-2012) and the current demands in the Region. For each objective there have been defined several actions to be taken. The WP will be reviewed annually and updated if necessary.

Maintaining the contacts updated at the Silvamediterranea website O1. FFWG NETWORK Maintaining the contacts updated at the Silvamediterranea website Reinforce collaboration with the Forest Fire Expert Group (EC) Collaborate with other Mediterranean regions (Australia, Chile, State of California…) To update the members and focal points of the working group a permanent review of the data base have to take place, along with the support of the FAO Silva Mediterranea Secretariat. The current situation regarding members, focal points and coordinators is the following: There are 28 member countries of Silva Mediterranea plus the European Union which is a member on its own. There are 16 focal points identified in different countries from Europe, Near East and North Africa, plus the European Union focal point. The coordination of the working group is in hands of Spain since the beginnings and recently Turkey has added its support to the coordination actions. The FAO Secretariat is also acting as coordinator between all the countries and is supporting the coordinators in their tasks. To reinforce collaboration with EC-Expert Group could be possible to schedule an extra session after each EC-EG meeting (TO BE DISCUSSED WITH ERNST AND JESUS) Collaborate with other countries or region sharing Mediterranean characteristics and facing similar problems through an exchange of information and experiences will be a valuable input for us.

O2. FOREST FIRE PREVENTION Promoting forest fire causes investigation and training Elaboration of prescribed burning guidelines in the Mediterranean Promote forest fires awareness and Community Based Fire Management (CBFiM) initiatives Continue promoting the application and extension of EFFIS to all Mediterranean Basin countries 1. Based on previous experiences under the 2009-2012 WP the WG will continue to invest efforts in achieving a better understanding and knowledge on ff causes investigation. Training activities would try to be launched on this issue. 2. Prescribed burnings will be another target for the WG. It has been identified the need of developing prescribed burning guidelines taking into consideration our Mediterranean Region characteristics. As a first step it will be needed to identify other initiatives going on in the Region. 3. The relevance of CBFiM within the Mediterranean region is clear. There are many efforts that should be done in this field. The WG will link the possible initiatives with the global role FAO is developing in CBFiM. 4. The extension of EFFIS process, initiated under the past 2009-2012 WP, is still under develop and will need further efforts, including the identification of critical points that affect the complete integration of the countries to EFFIS. To do so the WG will count on the inestimable help of the EC-JRC colleagues. 7

O3. FOREST FIRE SUPRESSION Promote the adoption of the Incident Command System (ICS) in the Mediterranean Promote the adoption of FAO Voluntary Guidelines on Fire Management Promote forest fires accidents investigations and exchange of lessons learned Promote bilateral/multilateral agreements between countries The ICS is an international recommended organizational system. There is a need of such common standards to assure an effective and safe exchange of resources between administrations and countries. 2. The FAO Voluntary Guidelines are a basic tool for helping countries develop appropriate fire management policies and actions. 3. Accident investigation procedures are essential to improve on forest fires suppression safety. Almost as important as the investigation and its results is the exchange of the lessons learnt among the whole forest fire community, both as national and international level. Development of standard procedures on this issue and the establishment of specific link at the Silvamediterranea webpage could be some of the possible actions to be taken. 4. When the Region is facing difficult forest fire situations there is an exchange of suppression resources between countries. The adoption of collaboration agreements prior to these exchanges helps to speed up, which is crucial when we are talking about forest fires emergencies. All the questions regarding the support and collaboration between countries are considered in the agreements. WG1 will develop a standard cooperation agreement template for the Mediterranean, considering its particular characteristics. 8

Dynamize Silvamediterranea web page regarding activities of the WG1 O4. OTHERS Dynamize Silvamediterranea web page regarding activities of the WG1 Preparation of the forest fire chapter of the State of Mediterranean Forests 1. Make Silvamediterranea website the reference place for forest fires information exchange in the Mediterranean. As an example it could be created a link where to upload information, documents, initiatives about forest fires prevention campaigns of the Mediterranean countries, with the purpose oft sharing that information between countries. 2. As there is a specific chapter on forest fires at the State of Mediterranean Forest, the WG will work on its edition. 9

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