Belém, Brazil (November 6, 2025) — Today at the COP30 Leaders’ Summit, Brazil and a group of countries committed to a voluntary Call to Action on Integrated Fire Management and Wildfire Resilience. It includes a framework to boost wildfire resilience through science, policy and traditional and Indigenous knowledge. This Call to Action comes as fires drove record-breaking forest loss last year, according to Global Forest Watch analysis.

Following is a statement by Rod Taylor, Global Director for the Forest Program, World Resources Institute:

“We’re entering an alarming new era as fires became the leading cause of tropical primary forest loss last year for the first time on record. This Call to Action signals that governments are waking up to the fact that preventing wildfires needs to be a top priority if they are to save the forests that underpin their economies.

“It's especially notable that civil society organizations from across the tropics and conservation groups have also signaled support for this Call to Action.

“Climate-fueled conditions are driving more frequent and severe wildfires, which are often started by humans either to clear land for large-scale agriculture or as a traditional land management tool. From Brazil to Bolivia, fires surged across Latin America last year at a scale we haven’t seen in recent history.

“Governments should use this Call to Action to kickstart greater investments in fire prevention, early warning systems, and building resilient response approaches. Addressing wildfire risk needs to go hand-in-hand with slashing emissions that drive hotter and drier conditions.

“The framework’s commitment to involve Indigenous and local communities — among the world’s most effective forest stewards but disproportionately affected by wildfires — in building fire management and prevention initiatives is all-important. To prevent catastrophic fires, effective fire management programs should support the use of traditional controlled burns and minimize farmers’ reliance on fires to manage land when wildfire risk is high.

“Plans like the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) could provide even greater incentive for governments and businesses to invest in fire preventive strategies and improve forest communities’ livelihoods — as payments to countries hinge on them keeping forests standing.”