This system was developed in the framework of the project entitled, “Expansion of SERVIR in the CAFTA-DR countries for Improved Environmental Monitoring and Informed Decision Making,” which is financed by USAID and executed by CATHALAC, NASA and SERVIR. The launch event represented national approval of the tools developed in this project, certainly due to the successful inter-institutional collaboration on development of the system.

Pictured above at the head table during this event are the Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources Dr. Luis Ferraté, the Executive Secretary of CONAP Claudia Santizo, the Manager of INAB Josué Morales, SERVIR Director Daniel Irwin, and Coordinator of the Expansion of SERVIR in CAFTA-DR countries project Africa Flores of CATHALAC. The audience was made up of representatives from both governmental and nongovernmental organizations, academia and research centers of the country.

The event featured the products generated as part of the system, which include information Guatemala did not previously have, such as a pattern analysis model for ignition sources, a dynamic risk evaluation system, and a fire risk atlas. Victor H. Ramos, Coordinator of the Evaluation and Monitoring Center (CEMEC) of CONAP said, “The goal of this project was to fill an information gap at the national level in order to support fire management in Guatemala. It provides the inputs that allow us to take on the challenge of forest fires by using geospatial information.”

The Minister of the Environment Dr. Luis Ferraté highlighted the importance of this system and the new information that it provides, given that it allows the country to not only analyze areas affected by fires but also the economic losses incurred.

The advances achieved in this project will also be implemented in the Dominican Republic by the SERVIR team at CATHALAC, aiming to expand the current system and improve previous projects undertaken in fire monitoring in the Caribbean country. Plans are underway to replicate the system at the regional level, building on the success of national initiatives.