Introduction
The protection of the world's environment cannot be effective without national and international fire management policies for natural, semi-natural and cultural landscapes and ecosystems that constitute an essential part of the habitable landscape, contributing to the functioning of the global 'life support' system.
National and international policies must be designed to meet the specific local and the common global threats from wildfires, to curb excessive application of fire in land-use change and to promote the ecologically sound and sustainable application of fire in ecosystem management and land use. These policies must take into consideration the cross-cutting issues such as emissions from vegetation fires and their impacts on atmosphere, climate, human health and human security, and must be developed cooperatively with all the stakeholders involved in the sustainable use and protection of the environment and humanity.
A series of International Wildland Fire Conferences was initiated in the late 1980s. These conferences are aimed at bringing the science community and the technical members of the operational fire management community together with those affected by fire and the authorities concerned and mandated with developing policies and implementation strategies in wildland fire management. The goal of this collaboration is learning, innovating and sharing practices and lessons common to sustainable use of the environment, wildland fire risk management and disaster reduction at local, national, regional and global scales.
The International Liaison Committee [ILC] welcomed the proposal that the 5th International Wildland Fire Conference be held in South Africa in 2011 under the auspices of UNISDR and FAO. The conference will be held at Sun City and Pilanesberg National Park, 9 to 13 May 2011.
The Sun City conference venue has been chosen because it provides the modern infrastructure required for a sophisticated conference such as this, but is surrounded by a National Park and a rural African environment. This setting provides for an excellent combination of presentation venues, exhibition spaces and live fire demonstrations within a fire-adapted environment. Accommodation will be available in all price classes and in walking distance of the conference venue. The venue provides real income generating opportunities for surrounding poor communities, which supports the ILC’s commitment to the Millennium Development Goals, the Hyogo Framework for Action and the pro-poor developmental principles of the conference organisers.
