- Title:
-
Fire Ecosystems and People: Threats and Strategies for Global Biodiversity Conservation
- Date:
- May 2007
- Organisations
- The Nature Conservancy
- Authors:
- Shlisky, A., J. Waugh, P. Gonzalez, M. Gonzalez, M. Manta, H. Santoso, E. Alvarado, A. Ainuddin Nuruddin, D.A.Rodríguez-Trejo
-
Location:
-
USA,
United States of America
Overview
It is widely understood that—as a result of human actions—fire is behaving differently today than at any other time in human history. Fire plays a vital role in maintaining many ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. In order to develop effective conservation strategies, we have to understand the relationships between fire, people and the environment. Only 25% of the terrestrial world assessed exhibits intact fire regimes. Ecoregions with degraded and very degraded fire regimes cover 53% and 8% of the globe, respectively. More than half (53%) of the earth’s ecoregions are fire-dependent, while 22% are fire-sensitive and 15% fire-independent (the remaining 10% have not been assessed). There is a strong link between the degradation of fire regimes and the loss of biodiversity. The top causes of altered fire regimes globally are urban development; livestock farming, ranching and agriculture; fire use and fire suppression; resource extraction (including energy production, mining and logging); and climate change. These threats can be addressed by adopting a framework called Integrated Fire Management. The first step of Integrated Fire Management includes identifying potential environmental, social and economic benefits and consequences of fire. This information helps communities decide how, when and where fire will occur on the land.
