WORKING GROUP ON FOREST FIRES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION Enlarged Executive Committee SILVA MEDITERRANEA Hammamet, Tunisia, 3-4 December 2013

BACKGROUND  ESTABLISHED as working group in 2002 (18 th Session of Silva Mediterranea, Rome)  ROLE: Facilitate information exchanges on experiences, both successes and failures

BACKGROUND  GOAL: Forest fires prevention through SFM practices at local level, building forest resilience at landscape level (in a context of Climate Change)  TOOLS: National Focal Points to raise awareness of the common problems in a common framework

 MEMBERS OF SILVA MEDITERRANEA: 28 Countries and the EU  FOCAL POINTS FFWG: 16 countries and the EU (Europe, Near East, North Africa)  SECRETARIAT: FAO  CHAIR: SPAIN and TURKEY BACKGROUND

Work plan : OBJECTIVES  1: Updating the FFWG network  2: Promoting the incorporation of all Mediterranean countries to EFFIS  3: Promoting initiatives of prevention at local level  4: Promoting bilateral agreements between countries for joint actions on border areas and cooperation in suppression activities  5: Promoting the participation in the FAO Fire Management Actions Alliance of all Mediterranean countries

Work plan : MAIN RESULTS -Workshops: -FF prevention and regional cooperation, Sabaudia, FF Risks and Strategies for prevention, Rhodes, Extension of EFFIS for the MENA countries, Rabat, MFW, Avignon, 2011: -Agenda of the collaboration with EFFIS -POSITION PAPER ON WILDFIRES PREVENTION (presented South Africa May 2011, published October 2011)

Main results : planned activities  FFWG network contacts updated  Near east network integrated  MENA countries incorporated to EFFIS  Inventory of existing suppression agreetments, presented at the Global Wildfire Network of the UNISDR  Highlights the importance of using the FAO Fire Management Voluntary Guidelines

Planned activities for the period  Dissemination and promotion of the Position Paper  Implement the conclusions of the rabat workshop related with the EFFIS extension to the MENA countries (focal points designation, training on cause investigation, regular attendance to the EC EG meetings)  Elaboration of WORK PLAN FOR

WORK PLAN : objectives  1. FFWG network  2. Forest Fire Prevention  3. Forest Fire Supression  4. Others

O1. FFWG NETWORK  Maintaining the contacts updated at the Silvamediterranea website  Reinforce collaboration with the Forest Fire Expert Group (European Commission)  Collaborate with other Mediterranean regions (Australia, Chile, South Africa, State of California)

O2. FOREST FIRE PREVENTION  Promoting forest fire causes investigation and training  Elaboration of prescribed burning guidelines in the Mediterranean  Promote forest fires awareness and Community Based Fire Management (CBFiM) initiatives  Continue promoting the application and extension of EFFIS to all Mediterranean Basin countries

O3. FOREST FIRE SUPRESSION  Promote the adoption of the Incident Command System (ICS) in the Mediterranean  Promote the adoption of FAO Voluntary Guidelines on Fire Management  Promote forest fires accidents investigations and exchange of lessons learned  Promote bilateral/multilateral agreements between countries

O4. OTHERS  Dynamize Silvamediterranea web page regarding activities of the WG1  Preparation of the forest fire chapter of the State of Mediterranean Forests

NEEDS  MORE IMPLICATION AND INPUTS OF THE NATIONAL FOCAL POINTS  REACH THE APPROPIATED DECISION MAKERS FORUMS AIM  SILVA MED AND ITS WG: Forum to develop the mediterranean forest policy

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION Elsa Enríquez Alcalde Spanish Forest Fire Service Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment