Forest fires continue to pose escalating risks to ecosystems, human health, and regional economies across Asia, with transboundary haze and biodiversity loss emerging as shared concerns among AFoCO Member Countries. In response, AFoCO, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MOEFA), and the Korea Forest Service (KFS) have jointly launched the Forest Fire Management in Asia (FFMA) Initiative, a trilateral regional framework designed to systematically strengthen forest fire suppression and management capacities across Member Countries through training, advanced education, and research and governance.

As a core component of the FFMA Initiative, the AFoCO organized the third Training of Trainers on Forest Fire Suppression (TOTFFS) from 25 January to 6 February 2025, in Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand. Building on lessons from the first and second ToT programs, this third edition deepened field-based capabilities through expanded simulation exercises, fire behavior analysis, and practical hands-on training, while introducing scenario-based management and national experience sharing sessions.

This policy brief consolidates the key findings from the training, highlighting three critical areas for regional progress: the need for harmonized incident command systems and leadership development, the importance of establishing a shared science-based baseline alongside equitable access to fire informatics technologies, and the imperative to rebalance training delivery toward sustained, field-anchored approaches that translate into measurable operational readiness. Under the FFMA Initiative, AFoCO will build on these findings by shifting from standalone training activities to a continuous support model, developing an implementation package for member countries and strengthening regional information-sharing and coordination arrangements.