February 18, 2025 marked the beginning of the EGIF Ecuador (Forest Fire Management Team) project that will be developed over the next two months to improve the response and prevention capacity for forest fires, and promote a culture of conservation and sustainable management of natural resources in Ecuador.
The Pau Costa Foundation will carry out this project thanks to the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, within the framework of the Amazonia+ program financed by the European Union. The project will have the PASF (Amazon Without Fires Program) of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition (MAATE) as the entity chosen to facilitate the achievement of the three specific objectives that the project will address:
- Develop and implement a detailed plan for the integrated management of forest fires in Ecuador, facilitating cooperation and coordination with local and national authorities.
- Promote awareness and environmental education in local communities on the prevention of forest fires and protection of natural resources in the Ecuadorian Amazon, through educational and awareness campaigns, and the training of community leaders to act as disseminators of this knowledge.
- Establish and train 4 specialized forestry brigades, equip them adequately, and ensure their preparation to face any emergency.
“In Ecuador we seek to establish a space for collaboration and mutual learning in MIF (Comprehensive Fire Management), contributing the experience acquired in our territory and helping to recover the sustainable use of fire in indigenous communities, also promoting collaboration between communities from neighboring countries. We will also collaborate in the fire management part, working with local agencies in fire extinguishing, analysis and prevention procedures, through technical assistance,” explains Orlando Martínez, from the Training and Operations team of the Pau Costa Foundation.
Specifically, we will work with the BREMIF (Specialist Brigades in Comprehensive Fire Management) in collaboration with the Quito Fire Department and MAATE, to share knowledge in fire analysis, organization for extinction, strategies and tactics for decision-making and reconstruction of fires, classification and prevention. In addition, the project plans to collaborate with the BRICOM (Community Brigades) by providing equipment and basic training on comprehensive fire management and extinction, in communities that historically already use fire. To do this, we will work with 2 cross-border BRICOMs. Starting on February 18 with the BRICOM Ecuador/Peru and then, starting on February 25, with the BRICOM Ecuador/Colombia.
In terms of awareness and environmental education, the technicians of the Pau Costa Foundation will accompany and advise the team designated by the PASF in awareness and environmental education, promoting the exchange of knowledge for effective management of the risk of forest fires. They will work with different communities to work in schools, following a learning approach “learning by doing”, educational materials and activities adapted to the environment, to raise awareness about the role of fire in ecosystems and the need for landscape management to avoid large fires in forestry. In addition, we will also work with community leaders to be the future transmitters of knowledge in their communities.
“The project is a magnificent opportunity to share knowledge; that is, we can learn from local experiences and knowledge and contribute our experiences in forest fire education. Only in this way will we all generate materials that will be useful in the context in which we find ourselves. The facilitating work of the PASF technicians dedicated to the project is also very important here,” says Martí Romaní, awareness and education technician at the Pau Costa Foundation.
The results of this work in schools and with community leaders will be evaluated and documented to create a guide with proposals for environmental awareness campaigns on Integrated Fire Management.
