The following participants attended the meeting on behalf of Republic of Turkey

Mr. Şahin AYBAL Deputy Director General, General Directorate of Forest

Mr. Mihtat ATEŞ, Head of Forest Fires Department, General Directorate of Forests,

Mr. Kamil Tolgay DURSUN, Division Director of Forest Fires, General Directorate of Forests,

Mr. Suat ÜNER, Pilot at the Fire Department, General Directorate of Forests

Ms. Benül Topuzoğlu Sözer, International Coordinator, Öz Orman-İş Trade Union Agriculture&Forestry Workers Union

Mr.İsmail Belen, Focal Point of Silva Mediterranea, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

Ms. Züleyha Belen, Lawyer, The Agricultural Credit Cooperatives of Turkey 

Öz Orman iş trade union International Relations represantative Ms Benül Sözer delivered a speech emphasizing the important roles of Forest Fire Workers in fighting against this global issue and active involvement of civil society organizations.

As a trade union Öz Orman-İş for the first time attended the working group of Forest Fires of Silvamed and as an acredited trade union to UNCCD, we are ready to support all policies in the framework of all sustainable development goals of the world.

The main objective of this workshop for the working group is to agree on the position paper on forest fires in the Mediterranean region to be presented at the next Wildfire Conference, to be held in Brazil in 2019, and to serve as a reference document at national, regional and international level

FAO Silva Mediterranea

 The mission of Silva Mediterranea is to:

Periodically review the trends in the use of forest land in the Mediterranean area and to assess the impact of changes implemented in the agricultural, industrial and urban sectors

Advise member governments accordingly on reorientation or improvements necessary to meet changed situations or newly-emerging needs

Periodically examine progress in forestry technology within regional and ecological contexts in order to better assess present forest land utilization methods

Identify forestry research priorities in the Mediterranean area,determine forestry research projects of common interest to member governments in the region and recommend measures necessary for forestry research institutes in the region to carry out these projects

Determine and carry out, in collaboration with member nations and with the support of the appropriate national forestry agencies, technical studies and surveys to assist in the formulation and implementation of national forest policies.

Mission of the working group on Forest Fire

The Working Group on Forest Fire is led by Spain Spain constitutes the focal point of the International Network on Forest Fire for the Mediterranean Region. The programme of work of the working group on forestfires centres on the following aspects:

1.   Establishment of anagreement between FAO and Spain as part of a reinforced programme on forestfire

2.   Drafting of guidelines for bilateral agreements on cooperation in the prevention and control of forestfires 

3.   Decentralized regional database on forest fires in collaboration with the EFFIS.

4.   Dissemination throughout the Mediterranean of the daily fire-risk forecasts prepared by EFFIS

5.   Updating of the FAO inventory through bilateral agreem