a spark of hope
If there is hope for the world’s forested areas, it can be found in Costa Rica’s Volunteer Forest Fire Brigade.
“It’s a high-risk profession,” says Pamela Campos, a biologist and Brigade member. “But it’s what we love.”
Some have come close to death on more than one occasion. Others have suffered serious health effects. This group of 154 women and 373 men volunteer to look after 26 percent of the country’s territory, natural spaces that shelter and house 6 percent of the planet’s biodiversity — even at the cost of their own health.
Pamela has been preventing and fighting forest fires for six years, protecting forests and people. She recalls a moment that changed her life: “Once I was volunteering for a prevention project. The people in the community told us that if the forest cover burned, the water would go with it because that’s where the springs were. Seeing such a specific need like water scarcity and knowing that we were also helping people was very motivating.”
Forest fires are more severe and occur more frequently every year, seriously impacting health, economies, infrastructure and biomass.
According to Costa Rica’s National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC), 1,467 forest fires have been recorded in the country over the last 10 years, consuming 408,916 hectares of protected wild areas and buffer zones—an area larger than 572,000 national stadiums.
A phenomenon without borders
The United Nations estimates that, globally, extreme fires could increase up to 14 percent by 2030, 30 percent by 2050, and 50 percent by the end of the century. Some of the causes are prolonged droughts, strong winds, loss of forests due to commercial logging, deforestation for grazing lands and city expansion.
In June 2023, Canada experienced one of the most agonizing wildfire episodes in its history: 184,493 square kilometers in flames, more than 200,000 people forced to evacuate their communities, and columns of smoke that darkened New York’s skies. Canada issued a call for international aid. Costa Rica responded, sending 144 people, including 24 firefighters. It was Costa Rica’s largest mobilization of human resources for humanitarian assistance to another country, based on information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship.
Pamela remembers that experience clearly:
“Canada is a world power in fire management, so it helped me discover my abilities and reinforce my knowledge. And it showed everyone that both men and women are extremely important. I realized that, as a woman, one has great power, and although it’s true that we’re still a minority, it’s also true that we’re on the road to equality,” she says.
The need for more resources to stop forest fires is also breaking down the gender barriers within the profession. Óscar Mora, coordinator of SINAC’s National Fire Management Programme, points out that a third of the people who currently participate in the program are women. “We’ve been working and pushing so that more and more women join the teams,” he says.
Pamela urges other women to join the group and thank “the men who respect us and treat us like equals.” And she adds:
“In this vocation, I found the opportunity to make a small contribution to the protection of natural resources worldwide and I understand very well that it doesn’t matter whether [the forest] is burning in Canada or in Costa Rica, we all suffer the consequences around the world.”
Local action, global impact
Over the last 30 years, the Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Program (SGP), implemented by the United Nations Development Programme, has continually supported SINAC in the fight against forest fires in protected wild areas and buffer zones.
“I belong to the Madre Verde Brigade, which was started with funding from the SGP. They trained 23 people and fully equipped us with personal protective equipment. We are daughters of the SGP,” says Pamela. “Before we had to go to three different places to collect things. Today it’s all in the same place. It helps us respond more quickly.”
An investment of US$1.1 million in capacity building and operational infrastructure between 1993 and 2023 has gone towards their operation and mobilization, equipment and tools, infrastructure (warehouses) to store equipment, exchange of experiences, communication strategies, outreach and training, and support for the National Fire Management Program.
Through their selflessness, Costa Rica’s Volunteer Forest Fire Brigade are safeguarding one of Earth’s vital carbon sinks. Cornerstones of life for 1.6 billion people and home to 80 percent of terrestrial species, forests provide 75 percent of the world’s fresh water and generate 76 million tons of food. They are also responsible for 40 percent of the world’s renewable energy — as much solar, hydroelectric and wind power combined.
Recognizing the importance of forests for human and planetary well-being, countries adopted the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests, which sets targets to advance sustainable forest management all over the world, addressing issues such as biodiversity protection, climate change impacts, and the consequences of deforestation due to fires.
The 19th session of the United Nations Forum on Forests, A biennial meeting focused on the advancement of sustainable forest management and conservation, is taking place from 6 to 10 May in New York. It brings together Member States, international organizations, civil society and Indigenous communities to discuss key topics such as deforestation, illegal logging, biodiversity loss and climate change.
