The Nature Conservancy’s Fire Initiative

The Nature Conservancy’s

Fire InitiativeFire is an essential force that has shaped ecosystems and life forms around the globe. But, in many ecosystems

today, the role of fire is severely out of balance, threatening to devastate both human and natural communities.

The Nature Conservancy has launched the Fire Initiative to counter these threats that strike at the heart of

global conservation efforts. The Fire Initiative promises to fulfill a leading role in restoring fire-altered ecosystems.

century have people so radically changedthe role of fire in many ecosystems, bothin terms of setting fire and suppressing it,that natural fire regimes are severelyaltered.

More than 90 percent of the firesthat occur around the globe today arethought to be caused by people. Each year,worldwide, an area larger than half thesize of China burns. In the past few yearswe have seen catastrophic fires like thosein the tropical, fire-sensitive forests ofCentral America, China, Mexico andIndonesia, which began with agriculturalburning but quickly exploded in dry con-

altered statesthe causes and consequences ofaltered fire regimes

Fire scars in fossilized trees tellancient stories of wildfires sparked

by lightning. Human beings as well havebeen changing the world around themthrough fire for millennia. In China andEurope, people long ago used fire to con-vert forests to agricultural fields. InAustralia, the Americas and Africa, firewas an age-old tool used to rush game andcleanse grasslands. But only in the past

ditions brought on by drought. With recurring drought linked to more frequentEl Niño cycles, the world will inevitably seemore fire in the tropics in coming years.

Conversely, many fire-adapted ecosys-tems today are fire-starved. Beginning withSmokey Bear, people in the 20th centurymastered the art of fire suppression. Withan expanding population into the fire-prone American West, for instance, keep-ing fire at bay became a top objective. Oneserious result of this suppression has beenthe unnatural build up of fuel—densestands of flammable trees and thick carpetsof dead wood and leaves—that has led to

Tropical forests, such as this Amazonian rain forest, can be destroyed by fire,which is a foreign element for this type of ecosystem.

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life with firethe role of fire in ecosystems

Much of life on Earth evolved with fire—one of the fourbasic elements that comprise all matter, according to

classical Greek philosophers. Like storms and floods, fire is apowerful physical disturbance that has the ability to give life orto smother it. Fire shaped many of the ecosystems and life formswe know today.

Fire-adapted ecosystems are resilient over time to repeatedfire. When fire occurs in their midst, they thrive. Fire-adaptedecosystems are places like the pine forests of the AmericanWest and Mexico, and the vast savannas and shrublands ofBrazil, Bolivia and Venezuela. Many species in these ecosystemsdepend on fire to reproduce; others have evolved to tolerate the regular sweep of flame.

In contrast, fire-sensitive ecosystems evolved without theinfluence of major fires. Many of these ecosystems are in trop-ical environments, such as the rain forests of Southeast Asia andthe Amazon where the moisture content of both vegetation andthe atmosphere is usually high. Fire can destroy or radically alterthese ecosystems during times of drought.

Over time ecosystems evolved their own signature fireregime, an imprint of the role of fire in that system, character-ized by fire frequency, intensity, duration, size and the season inwhich it occurs. Around the world today, many once-natural fireregimes are anything but natural, throwing into peril ecosys-tems and human communities alike.

unnaturally intense fires like those inColorado, Arizona and Oregon in 2002.

Such altered fire regimes—too muchfire and too little, at the wrong time andin the wrong place—are a sign of ecosys-tems out of balance. The consequences forboth people and nature are serious. Thefires in Indonesia in 1997 affected thehealth of 100 million people. In 2000,more than $10 billion worth of naturalresources and personal property was lostto wildfires in the United States; the gov-ernment spent more than $2 billion to putout those fires. Altered fire regimes canhave a severe impact on natural resources,from water supplies to forest products.

For nature, altered fire regimes caninflict devastating wounds, from the lossof a single fire-dependent species towholesale ecosystem change. High-inten-sity “crown fires” fed by excessive fuelloads, like the Los Alamos, New Mexico,fire of 2000, pummel even fire-adaptedecosystems, killing native species and lev-eling forests. Outside Boise, Idaho, morefrequent fires are destroying native sage-brush—and pushing out the sage grousethat depend on it—while opening the wayfor the spread of non-native cheatgrass,which in turn fuels more fire. A similar

Across the United States and around the world, alter-ations to the natural role of fire threaten the health ofecosystems and all inhabitants—plants, animals and people alike.

yellow = moderately altered fire regime. red = severely altered fire regime. November 1999

invasion of non-native grasses is nowoccurring in scorched tropical forestsaround the world.

heated responsethe fire initiative

In developing the ConservationBlueprint—a map of the areas most

critical for the long-term protection ofecosystems and wildlife—The NatureConservancy has identified at least 107million acres of important conservationareas, in the United States alone, that arethreatened by altered fire regimes. Morethan half of the areas on the map are atstake. Around the world, hundreds ofmillions of acres more are at risk.

With altered fire regimes directlyaffecting our mission to protect thediversity of life on Earth, theConservancy is responding in earnest.Building on three decades of experiencein ecological fire management and arespected in-house cadre of fire profes-sionals, we have launched the FireInitiative to address the threat of alteredfire regimes on both public and privatelands. Over five years, the Fire Initiativewill pursue five strategies:

1) Lead, Integrate and Collaborate—Addressing fire-related ecologicalthreats at the places where theConservancy works and collaboratingwith other non-profit organizationsand multilateral institutions, such as Conservation International, theUnited Nations and The World Bank,to set priorities and provide a voice forbiodiversity concerns.

2) Improve Government Policy—Engagingpolicy makers to address policies, programs and funding sources thateither hinder or advance action in fire-altered ecosystems.

3) Catalyze Fire Learning Networks—Bringing together land managementpartners, community leaders, landown-

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deNature Conservancy experts help restore fire to fire-adapted ecosystems, such as this longleaf pine forest in Florida.

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the fire initiative at work

United States: When more than 7.5 million acres of the United States burned in the

2000 fire season, the federal government enacted the National Fire Plan with the

aim of fire-proofing vulnerable communities and addressing the threat of altered

fire regimes. As an extension of the plan, The Nature Conservancy created a part-

nership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of the

Interior, through which we are working with communities to restore fire-adapted

ecosystems across 38 million acres of public and private land. The partnership gives

us a prominent seat at the table in the restoration of priority conservation areas

around the country.

Mexico: After the destructive fires of 1998, the Mexican government began a cam-

paign to increase its fire suppression capacity. To ward off the same mistakes in fire

suppression made by the U.S. government during the 20th century, the

Conservancy worked with several Mexican conservation partners to convene

National Fire Management Forums. By bringing together government officials, land

managers, scientists and fire experts, the forums generated an unprecedented

national-level dialogue about the ecological costs and benefits of fire in Mexico.

Now we are creating a network and mentoring program that teams U.S. fire experts

with their Mexican counterparts to build ecologically sound and socially acceptable

fire management programs at priority conservation areas.

The use of management techniques such as prescribed fire (upper right) and manual thinning can keep fires fromburning and spreading at abnormally high intensities (lower left). Colorado, 2002.

For additional information:Fire InitiativeThe Nature Conservancy13093 Henry Beadel DriveTallahassee, FL 32312(850) 668-0827

[email protected]/initiatives/fire

Members of the media, please call (703) 841-4220 or write [email protected]

Cover photo: Fire-adapted ecosystems need the occasional sweep of the flame to survive.

© Raymond Gehman

ers, experts, scientists, non-profitpartners and policy makers toexchange information and expertise,find solutions to common problems,share best practices and provide avoice for fire management. To date, wehave established networks in theUnited States, Mexico, CentralAmerica and the Caribbean repre-senting more than 100 million acres ofpriority conservation areas.

4) Build Partner Capacity—Workingwith national government agenciesand community-based organizationsthat have the greatest potential toaddress altered fire regimes at priorityconservation areas, and building theircapacity through resource sharing, net-working, training and mentoring.

5) Improve Science—Applying the bestavailable science to the threat ofaltered fire regimes and supportingbest practices for adaptive manage-ment and restoration at sites. Becausethe lack of scientific information onthe role of fire in ecosystems is a criti-cal barrier to taking appropriate actionin many places, we work with partnersaround the world to identify, prioritizeand address gaps in knowledge.

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