Retrospective and perspectives of forest fire research at INIFAP

Abstract

El Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias, INIFAP) (National Institute for Research on Forests, Agriculture and Livestock) has carried out research on forest fires from the perspective of its management. Based on this, work has been done on the following lines: Fuel evaluation, fire ecology, fire behavior, zoning, climate change, dendropyrochronology and social perspective. Herein is described a research perspective that proposes organizational strategies, human resources training, and technology transfer, aiming primarily to reconcile the study of fire behavior with a deep ecological analysis of its effects, for which purpose a broader participation of interdisciplinary groups is required. Within this process, INIFAP has supported the training of human resources, by the following strategies: 1) teaching of specific courses on several topics; 2) execution of practical workshops, at both the field and the theoretical levels; 3) support for thesis students at various levels, and 4) integration of working groups in different research projects. It is concluded that INIFAP has contributed to the development of research on forest fires; however, there is still much to do on the subject, such as completing a frame of reference on the problem of forest fires in Mexico, based on which the priority issues are to be determined.