07/29/00 -- World Faced with Growing Forest Fire Threats

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

World Faced with Growing Forest Fire Threats

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Forest Networking a Project of Forests.org

http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation Archives

http://forests.org/web/ -- Discuss Forest Conservation

07/29/00

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY

Forest fires in Greece and those in Indonesia in 1997 and 1998 are

"only a foretaste of a global disaster waiting to happen". In a new

report WWF and IUCN state that the next El Nino weather disturbance in

the Pacific, due within two years, is likely to trigger more and worse

fires. Worldwide, overly intensive and extensive forest and land

management has lead to ecological conditions that are highly

conducive to out of control infernos. While historically many

forests have adapted and even require some level of fire disturbance

to prosper; increased fragmentation, greater canopy opening, climate

change, and decaying logging debris, all over large areas, are making

prime conditions for large blazes. The report calls for urgent and

specific actions to address underlying causes of forest fires. Early

warning systems need to be built up; agricultural practices need to

be altered; national and international laws must be implemented and

enforced; and large-scale projects such as road construction need to

be assessed for the fire risk they pose.

To this list I would add that remaining large, pristine forest

regions and landscapes composed of ancient old-growth forests must be

rigorously preserved and allowed to expand. Only 20% of the original

worldwide forest extent remains in such a condition, and they play a

crucial role in driving global, regional and local ecological

processes. Large, ecologically intact and operable forests maintain

rainfall patterns that will be critical in ensuring regional and

continental conditions conducive to maintenance of forest cover and

limiting forest fires--particularly as climate changes. Only under

limited circumstances of abject local need should local communities

be assisted to benignly manage a portion of such forests under strict

ecologically based management plans. Secondary and regenerating

forests must be more lightly managed--in many cases allowed to

regenerate back to possessing late successional characteristics, such

as closed canopies and an extensive, connected and unfragmented

spatial distribution. Commercially managed forests and plantations

must certify the ecological sustainability of the management

practices, including steps to limit fire risks.

It is clearly evident that Worldwide we have cut too many forests for

too long. It is time to give forested (and for that matter,

agricultural) lands a rest. We need to tread lightly in all

remaining forests, and give forest landscapes time to recover and

stabilize. Global ecological sustainability depends upon doing so.

g.b.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Title: WWF AND IUCN WARN OF A GLOBAL INFERNO UNLESS GOVERNMENTS ACT

NOW

Source: WWF and IUCN

Date: July 27, 2000

In the aftermath of devastating fires in Greece, WWF, the

conservation organisation and IUCN - The World Conservation Union,

today warned that many more lives would be lost, livelihoods

destroyed and vast areas of the world's most important forest

ecosystems burnt to ashes unless urgent action is taken immediately

by world leaders to address the underlying causes of forest fires

before the next El Ni o year hits - according to some experts this

could happen in as little as 18 months time.

Timed as a wake-up call to world leaders and also published today,

the "Global Review of Forest Fires" by Andy Rowell and Dr Peter Moore

(note 1), concludes that since the devastation of 1997/8, fires have

slipped off the media and political agendas. At an international

level little has been done to address the underlying causes of forest

fires, and although some nations are attempting to face their forest

fire problems many such responses are too slow and often misdirected.

The situation in Greece is a microcosm of what is happening on a

global scale. "WWF Greece has repeatedly warned the government over

the past two years that there was a catastrophe in the making yet the

official response continues to be characterised by political

expediency, short-termism and policy failure," said Aristotelis

Papageorgiou of WWF Greece.

Over 70,000 hectares of forests have burnt to ashes in the last few

weeks. The environmental impact has yet to be calculated but we know

that the fires hit two of the most important wildlife areas in the

country. The Pindos Mountains is home to countless plant species and

a key habitat for brown bear, wild cat and wolves. The Island of

Samos has now lost its crucial brutia pine which provided islanders

with the only alternative income to tourism. Practically all the

forests around Athens have now gone.

WWF is calling for the Greek government to give adequate and

immediate funding to its national forestry service, which is

currently under-resourced and to introduce integrated forest

management plans that fully involve local communities.

IUCN and WWF are also encouraging the European Union to invest more

in addressing the underlying causes of Mediterranean forest fires.

The EU has been one of the few international institutions that has

started to support innovative approaches to fire management in some

areas of the tropics; it is now time to apply these in its own

backyard.

The economic cost of the fires in South East Asia in 1998 is

estimated at up to $10 billion with around 70 million people's health

being affected. Tragically the next fires could be worse, as forests

have not recovered from the previous burn and piles of dead and

decaying logs will act as a ready fuel supply therefore increasing

the likelihood and the intensity of the burn (note 2).

New research is telling us that fires should be moving rapidly up the

political agenda as climate change results in more frequent and

stronger El Ni o phenomena, which in turn predispose more forests to

harmful and regular burning. There is still time for governments to

prevent major fires developing by making real changes at a policy

level if they act now.

"WWF and IUCN's work on Project Firefight (note 3) and the findings

of this new report set a clear agenda for governments to act," said

David Hinchley of IUCN's forest conservation programme. "We believe

that there are now clear examples from around the world - Namibia and

Central America for example - where community based solutions are

often the best and more cost-effective way forward for planning for

and preventing damaging forest fires. Early warning systems need to

be built up; agricultural practices need to be altered; effective

enforcement and implementation of national and international law need

to be galvanised. Budgets for fire prevention and management need to

be available at a provincial level and not just a national level and

large-scale projects such as road construction need to be valued

properly, including the fire risk they pose to ecologically and

socially important forest resources." (Note 4)

WWF and IUCN stress the 1997/98 fires in Indonesia and this year's

fires in Greece, are only a foretaste of a global disaster waiting to

happen. The next El Ni o may coincide with the "Rio +10 Earth Summit"

when world leaders meet to consider global environmental issues.

Governments must act now and not wait until the next catastrophe

happens.

Steve Howard of WWF International said, "Whether it is in two years

or two weeks time, governments must realise that we need to fight

fires before they ignite, rather than wait until the world's forests

go up in smoke."

ENDS

For more information/interviews/embargoed copies of the report /new

footage on the aftermath of the Greek fires shot in Athens and the

Pindos Mountains contact:

DENISE MEREDITH ON 0208 255 8706 OR MOBILE: 07930 531128

ALISON LUCAS 01483 419266 OR MOBILE: 07799 416912

1. "The Global Review of Forest Fires" takes a comprehensive look at

the latest information available on forest fires around the world -

past and present issues and makes future predictions. It looks at

the current situations in key fire-prone regions including: China;

Latin America; Indonesia; Russia; North America and the European

Mediterranean. It sets out a clear action plan for governments to

implement fundamental policy changes in order to avoid a future

global inferno when the next El Ni o year hits anywhere between 18-

24 months time.

2. Fire is a paradox - it can kill plants and animals and cause

extensive ecological damage, but it can be also extremely

beneficial, the source for forest regeneration and of nutrient

recycling. Fire, the experts say, is nature's way of recycling the

essential nutrients, especially nitrogen. For many boreal forests,

fire is a natural part of the cycle of the forest and some tree

species only germinate after they have been exposed to fire i.e.

lodgepole pine and jack pine. However, fire causes severe damage to

tropical forest eco-systems which are characterised by high levels

of humidity and moisture. These fires do not normally burn and are

extremely prone to fire damage. Ground breaking research from the

Woods Hole Research Centre (WHRC) and IPAM (Instituto de Pesquisa

Ambiental da Amazonia) conclude that "in a scenario of increasing

El Ni o events, Amazonia is poised to experience catastrophic

forest fires that dwarf the Roraima fires in early 1998."

3. Project Firefight is a joint initiative by WWF and IUCN to

identify

the root causes of harmful forest fires, quantify their impact on

people and the environment and advocate the adoption of appropriate

policies and incentives for long-term fire management and control.

Initiated in 1999 Firefight has one 3 year policy analysis and

advocacy project operational in South East Asia and is undertaking

research activities in the Mediterranean. Other target regions

include Amazonia, Central America & Mexico, Russia and Sub-Saharan

Africa. The majority of funding has been received from the European

Union with additional support from the United States Forest

Service, IUCN and WWF.

4. Analysis of data by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA) from the ten strongest El Ni o's of the past

century has shown "that they are occurring more frequently, and

that they are becoming progressively warmer". Modellers at the Max

Planck Institute believe that the average climate in the 21st

century will be more like the El Ni o conditions experienced in the

last few years.

5. Page 22 and page 23 of the report gives a clear breakdown -

national, international and local - for what actions need to be

taken to properly implement best practice for forest fires

management.

6. The "Global Review of Forest Fires" can be found on WWF's Forests

for Life web site: http://www.panda.org/forests4life on 27th July.

###RELAYED TEXT ENDS###

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