On 19-21 March 2024 the Secretariat of the MMFN participated in the Second Technical Workshop of the Global Fire Management Hub organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in its headquarters in Rome, Italy.
The Global Fire Management Hub – “Fire Hub”, a collaborative effort between FAO and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has the overarching goal of enhancing countries' capacities in implementing integrated fire management. This second workshop is a significant milestone for the Fire Hub, discussing the integration of the 25-year work experience of the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) and related networks and centers into the Fire Hub.
The Model Forest Network is considered as a key partner in the Fire Hub for its approach that takes together governance, partnership and landscape giving the possibility of raising awareness about the importance of fire management and prevention within the local communities. Contrary to what is often thought, human activity is not only one of the factors that trigger fires, but also the key to their management. A well-managed territory is more resilient to the passage of fire than a protected one in which community control has failed.
Also Richard Verbisky, General Secretary of the IMFN, attended the event by sharing the 30 year experience of the International Network. Verbisky also took part in the Fire Danger Ratings System / Early Warning System (FDRS/EWS) Training that followed on 21-22 March 2024. The training is designed to provide attendees with hands-on experience in developing decision-aids based on the Fire Danger Ratings System (FDRS) using commonly available databases that can be used to predict and prevent forest fires.
At the end of the two days training Verbisky visited the Valle dell’Aterno Model Forest together with a delegation of fire management experts from FAO, Canada and Australia. There they explored the linkage between truffle production and fire prevention, visited the site where a fire-fighting water reservoir will be realized and an experimental forest management study area for fire prevention in the Majella Park.
