Forests of the future | What should the national strategy be based to combat forest fires?

By: We reforest Mexico*

Mexico faces a growing Environmental emergency: Forest fires are increasingly frequent, intense and destructive. In 2024, the country registered more than 8 thousand forest fires that swept 1.6 million hectares, a surface comparable to half of the state of Puebla. This figure not only ignites the alarms, it also shows the urgent need to strengthen prevention and response systems against fire, as well as review the regulatory framework and institutional coordination.

According to official data, 99% of forest fires have human origin. Practices such as the change in land use for agricultural purposes, irregular urbanization, illegal felling and other carelessness or illegal acts, are behind almost all claims.

Courtesy: We reforest Mexico

Effective prevention requires data. Statistical and geographical information systems allow to identify risk areas, plan response routes and allocate resources strategically. We reforest Mexico has developed, in alliance with Microsoft y development Seedan adaptation for Mexico of the Pearl tool (Planetary Computer Land Cover Mapping), which allows to detect changes in forest coverage and anticipate possible critical points.

With this technology, one of the activities that is carried out for fire prevention is the design of short -fire block blocks in eight priority regions in order to stop the propagation of fire and facilitate access to brigades in case of fire. Beyond their technical function, these measures reflect the importance of evidence -based planning.

Beyond maps and digital tools, the key is in the territory. And the territory has owners and guardians: 50.9% of the forest area in Mexico is in ejido or communal hands, and by law, its holders have the responsibility of combating the fires that occur in their lands.

Courtesy: We reforest Mexico

Faced with that reality, we reforest Mexico promotes the formation and strengthening of community forest brigades with 23 brigades in the country focused on fire restoration and management actions. We currently promote professionalization in fire combat with seven brigades: four in Guerrero, the most affected state in 2024 with more than 416 thousand hectares burned; Two in Nuevo León, one of them integrated exclusively by women; And one more in Quintana Roo, where the professionalization of a network of community guards is also supported.

These brigades not only fight fire, they also participate in ecological restoration and sustainable landscape management tasks. As María Aracely Gutiérrez Alemán points out, a member of the Women The work is for everyone, here the woman or anyone is not put aside.

From the jungle of Quintana Roo, Jorge Luis Cervantes Mata, a brigadist and fender in the Protected Natural Area (ANP) Bala’an K’aax, he adds: “For the brigades it is a greater satisfaction that their work is recognized because they have been in each fire, putting a lot of effort, they have been giving everything, trying to make it burn as much as possible, as much as possible.

Courtesy: We reforest Mexico

In a key step towards the professionalization of community work in fire prevention and combat, reforest Mexico promoted, together with the national Commission of Protected Natural Areas (CONANP) and the National Forestry Commission (Conafor), the creation of a competence standard for the integral management of the validated fire with the National Council for the Standardization and Certification of Labor Competencies (KNOW).

This standard, the first in its kind in Latin America, defines the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to effectively perform fire combat tasks in forest areas. In 2024, the first brigades, who had a trajectory and experience in the combat of forest fires, were officially certified in the Mayan jungle.

This advance represents a milestone in the dignification of community forest work, and at the same time strengthens the institutional capacity of the country to respond to a threat that can no longer be considered seasonal or unpredictable.

Courtesy: We reforest Mexico

Combating fire is not just turning it off: it is preventing it, understanding it, and above all attack the structural causes that favor it. We reforest Mexico proposes a vision that articulates technology, public policy, territorial management and citizen participation.

The challenge is immense, but the collective work between organized communities, civil society, private sector and authorities at all levels can help us strengthen the resilience of our forests in the face of climate change, generate benefits for the whole society and reduce unnecessary expenses: it is more cost-effective to conserve our forest resources from the hand with the agrarian nuclei that restore them after a severe forest fire.

Courtesy: We reforest Mexico

In front of the fire, each action counts. And the protection of our forests, which are a source of water, biodiversity, identity and future, is, without a doubt, a task that corresponds to all.

* We reforest Mexico It is a civil association that since 2002 works in alliance with the different sectors of society: companies, young people, communities, civil society organizations, academia and government, to ensure more and better forests and boost sustainable development in our country. For more information consult www.reforestamosmexico.org