Guyana among 15 countries meet to address wildfires through integrated approach

Representatives from 15 countries, including Guyana recently participated in a workshop aimed at reducing wildfire risks and damages, improve land management, protect livelihoods, and support environmental restoration across the region. The event which was held at the Regional Office of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) also dealt with incorporating Integrated Fire Management (IFM) into public policies, national plans, and sectoral strategies. Delegates from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Uruguay gathered to discuss the region’s diverse challenges and progress toward implementing Integrated Fire Management. Each country is at a different stage of development in addressing this issue. Integrated Fire Management (IFM) is a comprehensive approach that recognises the ecological, cultural, and social roles of fire. It promotes coordinated management actions—including prevention, controlled use, response, recovery, and financing—to reduce the negative impacts of wildfires, protect biodiversity, and strengthen the resilience of communities and ecosystems. Currently, Brazil is the only country in the region with an active national IFM policy. Meanwhile, Colombia has advanced its legislative efforts, with a bill recently passing its second reading. Other countries have made notable progress in institutional coordination, while some remain in the early stages of developing technical frameworks and regulations. The meeting took place amid a regional context of increasing wildfires and growing impacts on ecosystems, biodiversity, livelihoods, and food security. It provided a valuable technical platform for peer dialogue and knowledge exchange, enabling participants to explore how to institutionalise IFM as a strategy that extends beyond suppression to include prevention, controlled use, recovery, and sustainable financing. The event was organised by FAO, through the FiRe Project, in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) via the CoRAmazonia Project, with financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Participants included General Coordinator for Forest Fire Prevention at Brazil’s Institute of the Environment (IBAMA) Flávia Saltini; National Director of the Colombian Fire Department, Captain Lina Marín; General Manager for Fire Management at Mexico’s National Forestry Commission (CONAFOR), César Robles and Director General of Forestry at Uruguay’s Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, Gastón Martínez, among other Government representatives. The workshop concluded with the identification of shared challenges and opportunities to enhance regional cooperation, promote best practices, and advance toward more resilient and sustainable fire management across LAC.