In 2003 The Nature Conservancy, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) formed the Global Fire Partnership in order to promote awareness and catalyze action to reduce the threat of altered fire regimes to biodiversity conservation. The Partnership was officially launched at the fifth World Parks Congress, where it was cited as one of the top ten conservation achievements.

In 2006 the University of California Berkeley's Center for Fire Research and Outreach joined the partnership. Collectively, these organizations are:

• Building capacity for fire management among communities and governments;
• Supporting development of effective policies; and
• Synthesizing and disseminating fire-related knowledge.

The long-term goal of the Partnership is to maintain or restore ecologically and socially acceptable fire in ecosystems that depend on it, and reduce the incidence of unwanted fires in ecosystems where it is detrimental. By 2012, the Partnership intends to show tangible progress in meeting this ambitious goal by drawing on the complementary strengths of all four organizations.

In May 2007 the findings of the Global Fire Partnership's second global fire assessment were shared at the Fourth International Wildfire Conference in Spain. The assessment includes results for many areas not covered in the initial report as well as new and expanded information on the causes of altered fire behavior and recommendations for needed actions. The research is ongoing, with more analysis underway to understand the environmental variables that drive fire ecology.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Scott Warren (Brazil's Cerrado); Photo © Harvey Payne (prescribed burn, Oklahoma).