Fire and Conservation - Fire Threats

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Integrated Fire Management

The Nature Conservancy launched the Global Fire Initiative to counter fire-related threats to global conservation. Our framework for addressing these threats to both biodiversity and people is called Integrated Fire Management.

In many places the role of fire is changing dramatically, often as a result of human actions, and often with a detrimental impact on the surrounding landscape and human communities.

In the fire-sensitive Amazon Basin, initial fires open up the forest canopy, making it easier for them to reburn during the next dry season, and triggering a cycle of ever-increasing and more destructive wildfires in what was once considered a near fire-proof forest.

Conversely, many fire-dependent ecosystems have been fire-starved through policies of fire suppression. One serious result has been the unnatural buildup of dense stands of flammable trees and thick carpets of dead wood and leaves that have led to unnaturally intense fires like those in Colorado, New Mexico and Oregon in 2002.

Allowing fire to play a role in places where it is ecologically beneficial, and keeping fire out of places where it does not belong will reduce the impacts of altered fire dynamics.

Changes in fire dynamics are closely linked to global climate change, invasive species introductions, forest management and grazing practices, and a host of other issues. Therefore, finding solutions that are socially acceptable and affordable requires integrating fire-related concerns into land management efforts, including agriculture and forestry practices, protected areas management, land use planning and policy.

Because different ecosystems respond differently to fire, there is no blanket prescription available for managing fire worldwide. Solutions must be innovative, collaborative, ecosystem-specific and based on sound scientific knowledge.

The Nature Conservancy launched the Global Fire Initiative to counter these threats to global conservation. Our framework for addressing fire-related threats to both biodiversity and people is called Integrated Fire Management.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Ron Myers (Sierra Manantlan, Mexico); Photo © Digital Vison/Getty Images (fire in the Amazon).