SDKI, in partnership with the Canadian Forest Service, is currently developing a new design for the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System (CWFIS). The CWFIS will support both Sustainable Development and fire management decision-making. An early sample product from the system is the map of the Kelowna fire (below). The system will generate reports on national fire statistics, and respond to the development needs of a unique forest fire emissions reporting system. It will also support Canada's policy and decision-making strategy in respect to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests and Canada's Kyoto reporting obligations.

In summer 2003, the city of Kelowna, British Columbia, and its surrounding area faced serious threat from forest fire. The fire was mapped using semi-automated methodologies developed under the SDKI program and made available through the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System (CWFIS)

Geo-spatial modeling components of the system are being achieved through advanced information integration techniques. The resultant products, e.g. better area estimates and burn scar characterization, will be used to improve national estimates of forest fire emissions. The data and information flow from the Earth Science Sector (ESS) to the Canadian Forest Service (CFS) will augment NRCan's capacity to deliver policy and report on the extent and nature of Canada's forest resources. These new monitoring capabilities will also simplify NRCan's planning and reporting on our progress toward Sustainable Development, in particular to those segments related to fire disturbances.