Sistematización de experiencias de los diálogos interculturales sobre el manejo integral del fuego

Abstract

In 2024, Colombia recorded a historic high number of forest fires. This phenomenon, exacerbated by climate change, requires comprehensive fire management that recognizes ancestral knowledge. This document presents a systematization of experiences around what fire represents for indigenous and peasant communities, with the aim of serving as input for future forest fire strategies. The information was collected through semi-structured interviews in the Intercultural Dialogues on Comprehensive Fire Management conducted by the UNGRD (National Unit for Disaster Risk Management) in December 2024 and June 2025. A comparative qualitative analysis was then carried out, coded and examined to identify the reasoning of the participating communities. This provided results on how the importance of fire varies between rural and ethnic communities: for peasants, its value is mainly economic, while for indigenous peoples it has a profound spiritual value. It was concluded that in both cases, fire is an essential component that acts as a tool that strengthens the economy and land management and is linked to the identity of each community. Its prohibition leads to progressive degradation of social welfare and environmental conditions, promoting the occurrence of forest fires. Additionally, information on the reality of other Latin American countries, specifically Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Chile, and Mexico, was reviewed, and an analysis was conducted based on the experiences documented in those contexts. Therefore, the need to articulate traditional knowledge of fire with the technical concepts of the institutions responsible for land management in the country is recognized, making it possible to implement comprehensive fire management adapted to the ecological and social particularities of each territory.