By Sandra Whight, AFAC Executive Director National Capability

A new Global Fire Management Hub has been formed in the Forestry Division of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (UN FAO).

The first plenary for this Hub was held in Rome, Italy from 10-12 June 2025, and I was privileged to attend. I was joined by Murray Carter from the Department of Fire and Emergency Services, Alen Slijepcevic from the Country Fire Authority and Trevor Howard from AFAC (in his capacity as the Chair from the International Association of Wildland Fire).

As I wrote back to my colleagues in Australia on day two of the UN Global Fire Hub, I described my feelings as hot and overwhelmed.

Hot –this Tassie lass melted in the hot Roman summer with each day over 30 degrees.  Murray assured me it wasn’t that bad and the air conditioning in the very large UN FAO building was up to task.

Overwhelmed - there were 200+ delegates from across the world and over 200 registered online. The diversity of voices, opinions and understanding was both dazzling and challenging.

The sessions from the plenary are available through the event website, including recordings from each of the sessions: https://www.fao.org/forestry/firemanagement/fire-hub-plenary-2025/en.

This was the first ever plenary session of the UN Global Fire Hub, and there was a palpable energy in the room. All the problems and issues we see in Australia are amplified on a global scale. There are challenges between the availability of resources between countries, and it was clear that Australia has a great deal to contribute.

Inclusion of all voices is one of the key pillars of the hub. We heard directly from indigenous communities in the Amazon impacted by fire and changes in fire patterns. One of the most inspiring was the Muruy Indigenous Leader, Lucinda Vasquez Modes. She spoke passionately about the need for the right fire, of the right size with the right smoke: ‘With the right fire we can do good things, the fire can give us life. We need to love fire. Fire should be cared for; we should not be afraid of the fire.’ she said.

Over the three days I was excited to learn about:

• some of the technological advances being made
• the increasing understanding of smoke and its environmental impacts as well as on human health
• a real focus on hearing from diverse voices through community-based initiatives, perspectives and ideas.

AFAC was asked to present on the inter-operability session, giving me the opportunity to showcase the work of the National Resource Sharing Centre and highlight the crosswalk work for response roles that is a pillar of our ability to share resources internationally.

I found the opportunity of networking and meeting people from across the world truly valuable. I was able to connect with the new CEO from The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire, as well as key people from the Canadian Forest Service, Spain, Portugal and South Africa to name a few.

The work of the Global Fire Hub is underpinned by the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Integrated Fire Management Voluntary Guidelines: Principles and strategic actions. The Fire Hub’s work is divided into five main pillars aimed to assist countries in building capacities to implement integrated fire management to reduce the negative impacts of wildfires on livelihoods, landscapes and global climate stability.

Through the long history of bushfires in Australia and wildfires in New Zealand, there is much we can contribute to the global conversation.

To learn more about the Hub, and be part of the network, find out more here: https://www.fao.org/forestry/firemanagement/projects/global-fire-management-hub/en