📋 Tender Overview
The global session highlighted the urgency of confronting extreme climate fires, strengthening prevention through the integration of science and local knowledge..- The National Service of Natural Areas Protected by the State (Sernanp), an organization attached to the Ministry of the Environment, participated in the TED Countdown thematic session entitled Scaling a future resilient to fire: fusing tradition, technology and global action, a high-level space held within the framework of COP30 to highlight innovative solutions to the increase in forest fires in the Amazon and other regions of the world.
The panel brought together indigenous leaders, environmental authorities from the region, sustainability specialists and representatives of scientific organizations with the aim of showing how the combination of traditional knowledge, science, technology and multi-actor governance is key to confronting one of the most growing threats to Amazonian ecosystems.
The meeting was led by Mark Moroge, from the Environmental Defense Fund, and the panelists included: Francisca Arara, Secretary of Indigenous Peoples of the State of Acre, Brazil; Ines Manzano, Minister of Energy and Environment of Ecuador; Amy Barnes, Marsh Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO); and Marion Adeney, director of Amazon and Fire Programs at Conservation X-Labs.
Deyvis Huaman, director of Territorial Management of Protected Natural Areas, spoke on behalf of Peru and Sernanp, and shared the countrys progress in prevention, management and response to fire within protected natural areas.
A model based on communities, science and national coordination
During his intervention, Huaman Mendoza highlighted that fire management in the ANP of Peru has as its starting point the joint work with local and indigenous communities that use fire for agricultural and cultural activities. Our job is to ensure that this use is safe and compatible with conservation. Communities are our first allies, he stressed.
The official explained that Sernanp promotes community brigades, training and prevention tools, among them the Prevention Backpack, developed with OSINFOR and GIZ, and today articulated with the regional guidelines of ACTO and RAMIF. This tool allows you to identify risks, avoid ignitions and act quickly in emergencies.
Technology that amplifies ancestral knowledge
Another axis presented was the integration of monitoring and early warning technologies, such as VIIRS/MODIS satellite data, SENAMHI forecasts, drones and risk maps, combined with communication in the territory through radios and WhatsApp.
Tradition + technology equals early prevention. Science enhances ancestral knowledge and together they allow faster and safer decisions in the territory, said Huaman.
Articulated response at the national level
Huaman also highlighted the importance of the unified incident command, which integrates the work of Sernanp with SERFOR, INDECI, regional governments and SENAMHI. This approach allows for organizing roles, conducting drills, and coordinating actions before and during the dry season, positioning crews, executing safe prescribed burns, and carrying out post-fire restoration actions.
The participation of Sernanp reaffirmed Perus role as a regional reference in fire prevention and management, as well as its commitment to protecting the countrys natural heritage through innovative and collaborative approaches.
