Connecting Research to On-the-Ground Wildfire Priorities

PFX strives to serve the needs of wildfire practitioners, island communities and landscapes by working with our partners to identify and pursue relevant science and research across the Pacific region.

2014 Stakeholder Priorities

In 2014, wildfire stakeholders prioritized knowledge about pre-fire management; prevention, outreach, and education; wildland urban interface; after-fire response; wildfire suppression; collaboration; drivers and impacts of wildfire and the use of technologies. These priorities provided a road map for PFX products and activities and a resource to identify and develop research that meets on-the-ground needs (right). Read more here about these stakeholder priorities.

Current Wildfire Research Needs

PFX engages in many questions concerning the relationship of fire to the natural and built (human) environment. This include understanding how the climate crisis is impacting fire outcomes in the Pacific. In addition, building a better understanding of the social, cultural, economic and human dimensions of fire are critical Pacific Island research needs.

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Wildfire Research Regions

savanna-forest mosaic on Yap

Federated States of Micronesia

Guam2

Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands

Hawaii

Hawai‘i

Hawaii

Hawai‘i – old

Hawai`i Island: Leilani Fire, August 12, 2022

Hawai‘i Island

Kauai Fire Ignitions Heat Map 2012-2020

Limahuli Kaua`i, June 2019.  (Credit: Mike Walker, DLNR)

Kaua‘i

Lahainaluna, Maui, Aug 2018 (Credit: Hank Oppenheimer)

Maui Nui (Maui, Moloka‘i, Lana‘i, Kaho‘olawe)

Makaha Valley, O`ahu, Aug 2018. (Credit: Clay Trauernicht)

O‘ahu

Palau

Republic of Palau

Recent Resources for Researchers

Story Map: Wildfire in the Pacific

November 21, 2020

Brought to you by USDA Forest Service’s Pacific Island Forestry, this story map presents the full picture of wildfire in western Pacific islands. CHECK OUT THE STORY MAP

Research Brief: Measuring Recovery 25 Years After Fire

October 14, 2019

A look at the resiliency of a Hawaiian woodland forest within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park 25 years after fire.

Vegetation—Rainfall interactions reveal how climate variability and climate change alter spatial patterns of wildland fire probability on Big Island, Hawai’i (Science of the Total Environment, 2019)

February 10, 2019

Author Clay Trauernicht provides a spatial fire occurrence models to reveal the relative influence of multiple drivers, and discusses rainfall-vegetation interactions as a key predictor of fire risk variability as well as future drying predictions with climate change.