Spreading like Wildfire: The Rising Threat of Extraordinary Landscape Fires - A Rapid Response Assessment

This report examines escalating global wildfire risk, its drivers, impacts, and management responses across diverse ecological and socio-economic contexts. It outlines how land-use change, fuel accumulation, peatland drainage, plantation expansion, and climate variability increase fire frequency, intensity, and vulnerability, with case studies from Southeast Asia, Latin America, Australia, and North America. The document analyses ecological, economic, health, and water security consequences, highlighting carbon loss, biodiversity damage, and transboundary smoke effects. It evaluates the limits of suppression-centred approaches and emphasises integrated fire management spanning risk reduction, readiness, response, and recovery. The report underscores prevention, fuel management, community engagement, Indigenous knowledge, landscape restoration, and adaptive planning as central components of long-term wildfire risk reduction.