Information and Communications Warning System on Wildland Fire in Mozambique

The Executive Summary of the technical paper Information and Communications Warning System on Wildland Fire in Mozambique also is available in Portuguese.

O Sumário Executivo do relatório técnico Information and Communications Warning System on Wildland Fire in Mozambique (Sistema Informativo e de Comunicações para o Aviso Prévio de Queimadas em Moçambique) também esta disponível em português.

Mozambique is highly affected by wildland fires. Nearly all of the forests in the central and northern parts of this country currently burn at least once a year, resulting in negative implications for the people and the miombo forest ecosystem in the region. As climate change progresses, there is also the potential for Mozambique's wildland fires to become more intense and frequent.

At present, Mozambique has only limited capacity to monitor, prevent, manage and suppress the negative consequences of wildfires. Relevant institutions at all levels need to be strengthened with respect to their capacity to carry out the five elements of fire management—fire analysis, prevention, preparedness, suppression and rehabilitation. As information is the glue that binds each of these elements together and makes them interdependent, the establishment of an effective information and communication system is essential to Mozambique's efforts to manage wildland fires.

As a contribution to achieving this goal, an assessment was undertaken in 2009 of the potential for establishing and implementing an information and communication early warning system for wildland fire at the district level in Sofala Province. The objectives of this study included: undertaking a review of existing information related to wildland fires in the study area (Buzi District); interviewing relevant stakeholders at the national, provincial and district levels regarding their role in fire management, current activities and possible needs; and assessing the capacity of these institutions and communities to understand and use information to prevent wildland fires. The technical paper Information and Communications Warning System on Wildland Fire in Mozambique presents the main findings and recommendations from this study.

The paper was prepared as part of the Integrating Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change into Sustainable Development Policy Planning and Implementation in Southern and Eastern Africa (ACCESA) project. The goal of this project was to reduce the vulnerability of communities to the impacts of climate change, thereby improving their well-being and protecting their livelihoods. It involved undertaking pilot projects in Kenya, Rwanda and Mozambique, the latter of which focused on the introduction of community-based fire management. Financing for the ACCESA project was provided by the Global Environment Facility and the Governments of the Netherlands and Norway. The pilot project in Mozambique was co-financed by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit.