The Regional Fire Monitoring Center (RFMC) organized the Second Meeting of the Western Balkan LFM Regional Network on September 21, 2023, in Berovo, North Macedonia. This significant meeting was organized in the frame of the Landscape Fire Management in the Western Balkans (LFMWB) Programme, financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and coordinated by Farmahem with support from Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation.
The Programme partners who attended the workshop are SDC/Embassy of Switzerland in North Macedonia, Country Partner Institutions (CPIs), from Banja Luka, Belgrade, Podgorica, Tirana (participating virtually), Sarajevo, Prishtina and Skopje, the Regional Fire Monitoring Center (RFMC), the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC), the School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (HAFL), Farmahem, and Helvetas.
The LFM regional network meeting aimed to strengthen collaborative landscape fire management across the region. Key objectives included refining Country Reports, introducing a Manual for Strategic Network Coordination, and empowering LFM knowledge management and exchange. Additionally, in the meeting, the main findings from the survey on public awareness in relation to climate change and landscape fires were presented.
The meeting began with presentations of the country reports by the Country Project Staff, each highlighting the LFM findings from the respective country in the Western Balkans. Moreover, Mr. Nikola Nikolov provided feedback and recommendations on the reports, emphasizing improvements in various areas.
Mr. Nenad Celarevic from Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation introduced the manual for strategic network coordination, emphasizing the importance of understanding the network’s internal communication, functioning, and the roles and responsibilities of its members.
Furthermore, Ms. Jane Carter from Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation focused on empowering knowledge management and creating a platform for enhanced knowledge exchange. She emphasized the power of storytelling in establishing strong relationships with stakeholders and offered practical insights into crafting impactful narratives.
Ms. Marjana Shushlevska, the Team Leader of SDC’s Nature Conservation Programme, shared insights into the Programme‘s achievements in North Macedonia, including the designation of Malesevo as a protected landscape.
Ms. Katerina Atanasovska from Farmahem-REA presented the main findings from a survey on public awareness of the relationship between climate change and landscape fires in the Western Balkans.
In conclusion, it was decided that the next Western Balkan LFM Regional Network meeting would be held virtually in the second half of February 2024, fostering ongoing collaboration and knowledge sharing among partners.
