Fire is a natural part of many ecosystems. But on a planet rapidly changing due to climate change, habitat destruction, and resource extraction, fire is becoming an increasing threat to nature and human communities alike. Just as human-caused changes have made fire a danger in many places, human ingenuity has the power to reimagine and remember how we, and the creatures we share Earth with, can live and thrive with fire.
The Fire Grand Challenge is a global call to innovators from around the globe to submit solutions to transform how we manage and live with fire in Western North America. We’re offering $1,000,000+ in prizes and support to scale innovations that blend cutting-edge technology with Indigenous, rural, and place-based knowledge.
The Open Application period has now closed, but you can still explore the Challenge in detail by downloading the Innovators Handbook.
Scaling Innovative Ecosystem Stewardship
This challenge theme seeks innovations that incentivize and scale economically-driven, locally-appropriate land and fire stewardship throughout the fire cycle, while protecting biodiversity and promoting healthy ecosystems.
Synthesizing Diverse Knowledge Bases
This challenge theme seeks solutions that promote transparency and bring together diverse sources of knowledge or data to ensure that relevant, timely, actionable information is accessible to all relevant practitioners throughout the fire cycle.
For thousands of years, native peoples managed the forests of Western North America with intergenerational, place-based practices for putting fire on the landscape, developed over millennia. These practices were disrupted by the current fire management system; Western landscapes have been degraded by a century of fire suppression, land use change, and impacts from pathogens and climate change.
As a result, the region is now experiencing larger, higher severity megafires that existentially threaten communities and ecosystems alike, causing billions of dollars in damages each year. The problem has reached such a large scale that, today across the United States, over 148 million acres of forested land now require restoration (American Forests).
The Challenge plans to expand in future rounds to other regions, including the Amazon and Southeast Asia. If you're interested in supporting this work, contact us.
The Challenge works with Indigenous and rural communities—including Tribal governments, organizations, nonprofits, and fire departments—to co-develop and field-test innovations, providing essential local context and expertise to the innovation process.
Our webinar series offered valuable insights and strategies to help you craft a successful application for the Challenge.
The initial round of the Fire Grand Challenge is focused on Western North America, including the western United States, Canada, and Mexico. Future rounds are planned to expand the Challenge model to other regions, including the Amazon and Southeast Asia.
If you are interested in supporting this work, please contact the team at fire@conservationxlabs.org.
PARTNERS
