Based on the lines of action of the Comprehensive Fire Management Strategy of the State of Petén, Guatemala and within the framework of the Plan for the Prevention and Control of Forest Fires for the Season 2018-2019, of the Departmental Forest Fire Commission, from August 5 to 7, 2018, a Forest Firefighters Course was held in the facilities of the Research Center for the Conservation of the Tikal National Park, Flores, Guatemala.
This course is part of a process to strengthen capacities for the prevention and control of forest fires, and is the first to be developed at the national level with the new version of the Course for Forest Firefighters, in which different themes are emphasized, especially those related to personal safety. Participants were certified as forest firefighters by the Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The course was coordinated by the Fire Prevention and Control Unit of the National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP) Peten Region, with the support of the project Protection and Sustainable Use of the Selva Maya of the German Cooperation / GIZ, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Association of Forest Communities of Peten (ACOFOP), the National Forestry Institute (INAB), the National Commission for Disaster Reduction (CONRED), the Ministry of Culture and Sports (MICUDE), the BALAM Association and the PROPETEN Foundation.