This is a text on wildland and forest firefighting written for the South African market.

Africa is a fire continent. Since the early evolution of humanity, fire has been harnessed as a land-use tool. Many ecosystems of Sub-Sahara Africa that have been shaped by fire over millennia provide a high carrying capacity for human populations.

Damaging wildfires in many parts of the world in recent years have prompted an increase in demand for technical support for integrated fire management. As part of the response, FAO and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) established the Global Fire Management Hub (Fire Hub), which was launched at the 8th International Wildland Fire Conference in May 2023. The aim of the Fire Hub is to strengthen the capacity of countries to implement integrated fire management and reduce the negative effects of wildfires on people, landscapes and the global climate. One of the Fire Hub’s first activities was to update FAO’s Fire Management Voluntary Guidelines: Principles and strategic actions, which was first published in 2006, to guide implementation of integrated fire management at the landscape level, enhance best fire-management practices, including cultural practices for sustainable land use, and engage diverse stakeholders. This second edition of the guidelines, now titled, Integrated Fire Management Voluntary Guidelines: Principles and strategic actions, benefited from contributions from the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC), the International Liaison Committee of the International Wildland Fire Conferences, and Regional Fire Management Resource Centers of the GFMC’s Global Wildland Fire Network. In addition, FAO engaged with experts in countries and specialized partner institutions for insights into new developments and solutions in integrated fire management.

This text deals with the basics of wildland and forest firefighting. It has been totally revised and is now in full color.

These proceedings contain papers on insect conservation biology that are classified under 3 themes: (1) the current status of insect conservation, and major avenues for progress and hindrances (6 papers); (2) insects as model organisms in conservation biology (6 papers); and (3) future directions in insect conservation biology (6 papers).