About Regional Fire Monitoring Center
• Introduction and Network Coordination
The first proposal for the formation of a regional network in SE Europe, particularly on the Balkan, was initially discussed by the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) in June 2002 to promote cooperation in wildland fire research and management under a "South East European Fire Management Network" (SEEFIRE). Envisaged participating countries included Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and Slovenia. The SEEFIRE Network intended to address the problem of wildland fires (forest fires and fires in other vegetation types) that are increasingly observed in the SE European transition countries. SEEFIRE would establish an interactive network of institutions of all countries listed below that are involved in the prevention and control of wildland fire. At the occasion of the International Scientific Conference "Fire and Emergency Safety During the XXI Century - The Course of Europe" (31 October - 1 November 2002, Sofia, Bulgaria) the GFMC the network formation was discussed with representatives of the Balkan Region.
In 2004 the "ECE/FAO International Conference on Management of Forest Fire Emergencies and International Cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean, Balkans and adjoining Regions of the Near East and Central Asia" was held in Turkey (for details: See Regional Central Asia Wildland Fire Network) and provided an opportunity to clarify detailed objectives and modus operandi of the “Regional Balkan Wildland Fire Network” operating under the auspices of UNISDR.
On 4-5 April 2005 the Republic of Macedonia hosted the International Technical and Scientific Consultation “Forest Fire Management in the Balkan Region”. The conference was sponsored by the UNISDR Wildland Fire Advisory Group / Global Wildland Fire Network through its Coordinator and Secretariat, the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC). Funding of the consultation was provided by the German Foreign Office (represented by the GFMC) and contributions by the participating and contributing countries (Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey). In the meeting it was decided to expand the current focus on the Balkan Region to a “Regional South East European Wildland Fire Network” and invited countries adjoining to the Balkan region to cooperate.
In June 2006 the GFMC proposed to the Council of Europe (CoE), European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement (EUR-OPA) (Open Partial Agreement on the Prevention of, Protection Against, and Organisation of Relief in Major Natural and Technological Disasters), to include the Caucasus region to the network. This suggestion was supported by the GFMC report included in the findings of the OSCE-led Environmental Assessment Mission to Fire-Affected Areas in Nagorno-Karabakh, in Fulfillment of the UNGA Resolution A/RES/60/285 “The Situation in the Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan” (7 September 2006). Consequently the network was re-named “Regional Southeast Europe / Caucasus Wildland Fire Network”.
As consecvence of all of these, in 2010 GFMC and the Council of Europe (CoE / EUR-OPA) are supporting the establishment of the Regional Fire Monitoring Center for the Southeast Europe / Caucasus Region:
The Head of the RFMC is:
Prof. Dr. Nikola Nikolov
Regional Southeast Europe / Caucasus Fire Monitoring Center
Faculty of Forestry
Bul. Aleksandar Makedonski b.b.2000 Skopje
Republic of Macedonia
E-Mail: nnikolov@rfmc.mk
• The Host Institution: Faculty of forestry-Skopje- http://www.sf.ukim.edu.mk