The Community Prevention Network formed its 100th committee in partnership with CMPC to prevent forest fires

Some 5,000 people in six regions of Chile now understand how to manage the risks in their local environment, having been organized into various prevention committees supported by CORMA “Corporación Chilena de la Madera” [Chilean Timber Corporation] and its partner companies.

A few months before the start of another summer season, various organizations are already getting ready to prevent and fight rural fires. Recall that in the 2022-2023 season more than 450 thousand hectares were affected by fire. The greatest impact was felt in the Chilean Regions of Ñuble, Biobío and La Araucanía, which together represented more than 90% of the affected area. The most tragic thing is that, according to data provided by the Conaf “National Forestry Corporation”, 99.7% of fires are caused by humans.

The Community Prevention Network arose in the context of the 2017 fires, an initiative that runs from the Regions of O’Higgins to Los Ríos in Chile with the goal of setting up committees in urban-rural communities with the capacity to prevent forest fires through a pioneering model in Chile that brings together municipalities, companies, public entities, social organizations and local residents.

This Thursday the Community Prevention Network met an important milestone in Mulchén, Biobío Region, Chile when the 100th committee was formed and joined the Network with CMPC support. In addition, there are another 303 committees supported by other CORMA partner entities whose purpose is to face this new summer period in a coordinated manner and with the necessary knowledge. In fact, so far more than 4,800 measures have already been taken for forest fire prevention. 

The neighbors’ commitment to the Network was highlighted at the gathering with the participation of the Biobío Region Presidential Delegate Paulina Purrán, Mulchén District Mayor Jorge Rivas, CMPC Chairman Luis Felipe Gazitúa, Arca Sur Foundation President Mario Rivas as well as committee representatives of the Community Prevention Network, CONAF, Firefighters, Carabinero Police Force and the Army.

As a relevant milestone and to further promote their development, acknowledgements were given to Carmen Figueroa of Alto La Aurora, Raquel Correa of the Bilbao committee, Yocelyn Ávila of the Pilguen committee and Fernando Delgadillo of the Los Canelos committee.

“We’ve recently started working on this committee for the good of the community because we have been noticing things that we may not have noticed before, but with the committees we’re going to start paying attention. I’m happy to be part of the Network, especially after the forest fires, which were so challenging,” said Carmen Gloria Figueroa, President of the Alto La Aurora Committee. 

For María Raquel Correa, President of the Bilbao Sector Committee, “It’s extremely important that more committees join us and that people help out more in every area. The work being done is just great. Residents are helping out too, since they are the protagonists of this whole thing. We’re working with our local area, our neighbors, where we inform them of what needs to be done, completed work, and to be concerned about firewalls and clean up debris. You have to have empathy with people, get to talking with your neighbors.”

Several authorities present at the site praised the opportunity to join together to take on the challenge of preventing forest fires in Chile.

For Paulina Purrán, presidential delegate of the province of Biobío of Chile, working with the community is very important, “But the public-private efforts as well in order to strengthen the work in the community. I believe that the forest fires have left us with an important task, which is precisely to strengthen the preventive work that communities can do, ultimately assisting in making these private and public efforts a reality much more quickly, so I applaud the work that CMPC, the municipality and the community are doing to be able to make this meeting happen.”

Jorge Rivas, Mayor of Mulchén in the Biobío Region of Chile praised the occasion and called for joint efforts to continue. “This is my third term as mayor and every summer there are fires in our community and surrounding areas, so I repeat what I’ve always requested, which is for us to work together on this. It is important to consider the community in this regard. We as mayors fully understand the everyday reality of the citizens who elect us, so it’s essential for us to participate in this meeting, this prevention network, and the network of committees that have been set up to work mainly on preparedness, in getting ready for potential emergencies like those that affected us last summer and the ones before.” 

“As a large company in the territory with a lot of influence here both because of our forest ownership and industry, we feel that we have a responsibility that goes beyond our own productive activity. We also believe that we have capabilities that, of course, can be put at the service of communities to combat this scourge of forest fires,” said Luis Felipe Gazitúa, CMPC Companies Chairman.

Asked about the alleged responsibility of electricity companies in relation to the source of the recent forest fires, as suggested by the Biobío Regional Prosecutor’s Office, the top CMPC executive said, “The legal system will have to determine if the electricity companies that were reported were indeed negligent in failing to carry out proper maintenance. Forest fires don’t happen naturally in Chile. Together with our lawyers we’ll assess whether or not we’ll take any legal action. If the legal system determines they bear any responsibility for these fires, we as a company have also been affected.”

CMPC Support

The Community Prevention Network is promoted by the Chilean Timber Corporation (CORMA) and its partners in a pioneering initiative that will face its litmus test in upcoming months. In this context, CMPC has actively supported the committees by putting various resources and knowledge at their disposal under the premise that the community is the first line of defense in preventing potential threats. The community’s initial response will make the difference when it comes to future forest fires.