A three day workshop on cross-border fire management in the SADC region will start on January 25, 2010 in Maputo at the VIP Hotel. Almost one hundred participants are expected from all SADC Member States, from government, civil society, private sector and science. Experts from international, regional and national organizations will support the discussions.

The goal is to agree on elements for a regional cross-border fire management programme that will help the SADC Member States as well as the SADC Secretariat to develop capacities to reduce the occurrence of uncontrolled wildfires and their negative consequences on sustainable development. The emphasis in this endeavor lies on developing strategies that improve the cooperation between SADC countries to prevent, suppress, control and monitor wildfires.

For millions of years fire has been an integral part of the natural ecosystems and controlled use of fire is important for their maintenance. Traditionally, communities in the SADC region have been using fire to clear land for agricultural cultivation, pest control as well as burning woodlands and forests to stimulate growth of grass for cattle grazing. However, uncontrolled wild fires in the SADC region have drastically increased and these fires rage between borders and destroy extensive areas of agricultural crops, livestock, game, property, threaten forests and their biodiversity and cost each year the lives of hundreds of people. Therefore, uncontrolled wild fires are becoming a major threat to the livelihoods of the people as well as the tourism industry.

The SADC Secretariat is the principle executive institution of SADC to plan and manage programmes that implement the SADC Protocol on Forestry. This protocol came into force May 29, 2009 and calls, among others, for the protection and conservation of forests from uncontrolled trans-boundary wildfires, through well designed and integrated strategies among Member States.

The National Institute for the Management of Disasters (Instituto Nacional de Gestão de Calamidades – INGC), co-organizer of this event, is responsible for the prevention and mitigation of natural disasters. It has recently released a climate change report. According to this report the number of fires, among other disasters, will rise with increasing draught in some areas of Mozambique.

The German Development Cooperation (GTZ) project “SADC-Sustainable forest Management and Conservation” supports the SADC Secretariat in its efforts to develop sustainable forest management and conservation concepts in the region. The GTZ project “Strengthening of National Disaster Risk Management Systems” supports the INGC to increase Mozambique´s preparedness to react towards natural disasters. Both projects are implemented on behalf of the German Government.