TF006 IAI

Local science and knowledge on fire dynamics and use in the Trifinio Region: inclusive and effective strategies for fire management 

Principal Investigator (PI): Adina Chain Guadarrama, Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE). 

E-mail: achain@catie.ac.cr 

Phone number: (+506)25582194 

Duration and amount: 

USD 30,000 

Co-funding: 

USD 166,437.70 

Participating countries:  

Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

The fire regime depends on the interaction between human activities and environmental conditions. Fire is key to managing productive systems; however, knowledge about its use and management and the intentional actions of the people who start fires remain understudied. The Trifinio Region—a territory where the borders of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador meet—is essential for biodiversity conservation, hosting tropical forests inside and outside protected areas, including the Trifinio Fraternidad Transboundary Biosphere Reserve. However, the advance of deforestation remains one of the main threats to forests, a scenario exacerbated by the increased frequency and intensity of forest fires. In our proposal entitled “Dynamics and uses of fire in the Trifinio Region,” we will apply the transdisciplinary approach to integrate academic knowledge and local knowledge to enable us to cocreate inclusive and effective fire management strategies with the territory’s communities and key actors. We will use remote analysis and participatory tools to write scientific/technical publications describing regional fire dynamics and their connection with land-use changes. We will design audiovisual material to disseminate the knowledge acquired on the ecology and dynamics of fire and the roles of the various actors in its use and management. We will also make recommendations to inform land management and public policies on fire management in the Trifinio Region.