13-17 January 2020, AFoCO RETC, Myanmar
Forest fire management in the 21st century faces unprecedented challenges. The frequency, extent, and intensity of forest fires have increased significantly in many parts of the world. It is unlikely that conventional forest fire management approaches continue to be effective in the future given these challenges, and there is a need to come up with innovative and forward-looking approaches to deal with forest fires.
In recent years, community-based fire management has been widely recognized and applied to strengthen cooperation among various stakeholders as well as to promote the participation of local authorities in the joint prevention and control of forest fires. That means that fire management policies and strategies cannot rely solely on technological solutions but should incorporate social considerations in integrated approaches to effectively manage forest fires.
The training on “Community-based Forest Fire Management” was organized at the AFoCO Regional Education and Training Center (RETC) in Myanmar from 13 to 17 January 2020 with the aim of enhancing understanding of community-based forest fire management, sharing knowledge and experiences on best practices of forest fire management in Member Countries and strengthening the capabilities of officials in the use of advanced forest science technology.
Participants were given demonstrations on mechanical suppression and ground suppression techniques, and also had the chance to practice operating drones to monitor and suppress forest fires in the AFoCO RETC’s Experimental Forest. The knowledge and experiences acquired from the course, such as the usage of drones in forest fire monitoring systems, will be shared and transferred to forest-related agencies in Member Countries to help keep up with international trends and guide future research directions.
