Around the world, our understanding of fire and its impact on our conservation efforts has been limited. Now, for the first time, a global, quantitative assessment of fire regime alteration and its implications for biodiversity conservation has been completed by The Nature Conservancy, in partnership with WWF, IUCN, and scientists from around the world.
Between May 2004 and August 2005, experts determined the predominant fire regimes, assessed the degree to which the current fire regimes may be different from what is considered to be ecologically acceptable, and identified the primary causes of fire regime alteration for the majority of ecoregions around the world.
The results of the preliminary assessment reinforce the importance of addressing fire as a global conservation issue. Robust solutions are not as simple as suppressing unwanted fires or allowing beneficial fires. They require integrating fire-related challenges with other factors such as climate change, invasive alien species, and grazing and forest management practices during conservation and land use planning efforts.
Managing an ecologically and socially acceptable role for fire will require investing in science, finding common goals, creating innovative approaches, and building institutional resolve.
To read more about the assessment, read a summary, or download the preliminary report here: English | Spanish
The existing assessment is currently being updated to include additional data and further discussion of the underlying causes of altered fire regimes. This website allows you to help us to refine that data based on your expertise in a specific geographic region.
1. Click the "User Information" tab above and enter the requested information to help us track your data entries. You will be taken to the "Choose an Ecoregion" tab automatically.
2. Using the zoom in tool, click the country or region you would like to examine (you can also use the panning tools on the top right to move directionally). Once you have found the ecoregion that you would like to examine, use the "Query" button, click the ecoregion, and the name of that ecoregion will automatically appear in the text box below the map. To enter data for that ecoregion, click the "See data for this ecoregion" button.
3. You will automatically be moved to the fourth tab, "Enter
Data". Here you will be asked a series of questions about the
fire regime for that ecoregion. Definitions for terms are
available as you roll the mouse over the term. Once you have added your data, click the "Review and Submit" button.
4. You will automatically be moved to the final tab, "See Previous Entries". To continue submitting data, simply click the "Choose an Ecoregion" tab at the top of the page and start the process again.
