Forest Partnership for Action and Commitment Today Joint Pledge Addressing Forest Fires

Joint Pledges are a unique feature of ForestPACT, whereby different stakeholders pledge to support one another in delivering more far-reaching action for forests that none of the partners could have imagined or implemented alone.

This is an example of a joint pledge which addresses the issue of forest fires:

Several communities adjacent to large-scale forest and agricultural plantations (or agribusiness) are faced with increasing fire hazards. They seek support from ForestPACT members to address the problem. The communities pledge to develop community-based fire management for forested areas under their control.

The Government pledges to review and make necessary changes to laws and implementation practices related to the use of fire by plantation owners and to review community forestry legislation.

Plantation owners in a neighbouring country pledge to transfer zero-burn technology for site preparation to help plantation owners adopt best practice.

Plantation owners pledge to adopt best practice and phase out clearing and burning of native forest for plantations within 1 year.

NGOs pledge to work with communities, government and industry, to monitor and evaluate the impact of changing fire regimes and to make the information publicly available at no cost. NGOs also pledge to facilitate fire management training.

A bilateral donor pledges to provide assistance for the legislative review.

Please contact us for more information and to get involved in this initiative: ForestPACT Interim Secretariat c/o IUCN Forest Conservation Programme and WWF Forests for Life Programme, Rue Mauverney 28, CH1196, Gland, Switzerland / Tel. ++41 22 999 0263 / Fax ++41 22 999 0025 / Email forestpact@forestpact.org