Photographer: Dr Brian van Wilgen
Cover profile
“Burn for fynbos, not just for people,” says eminent fire ecologist
W
ildfire managers should consider the requirements of fynbos, not only the requirements of people, in their fire management plans. This was the message from eminent fire ecologist, Dr Brian Van Wilgen, of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa, at a recent presentation to fire protection association (FPA) officers. Dr Van Wilgen said that a more holistic approach to fire management, that takes ecological needs into account, would help to protect the extraordinary biodiversity of the fynbos biome. Dr Van Wilgen and his team were commissioned by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) FynbosFire Project to investigate wildfire behaviour, the risk it poses in certain areas and the information that fire bosses require in order to manage this risk. Their research forms part of a forward-looking, three-year project being conducted by the GEF FynbosFire Project to explore integrated fire management (IFM) in the fynbos region under conditions of climate change.
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Volume 2 No. 10
Mimetes stokoei in the Kogelberg “Fire management is still largely about putting out wildfires when they start,” said Dr Van Wilgen in an interview. “The priority is still to protect people and to prevent wildfire from destroying crops and infrastructure. There is too little effort going into managing fire for ecological reasons.”
According to Dr Van Wilgen, while wildfires sometimes ensure that burns take place often enough, these frequent wildfires also encourage the spread of invasive alien vegetation which, in some circumstances, regenerates more rapidly after fire than indigenous growth.
Fynbos requires fire in order to rejuvenate, therefore managing fynbos equates to managing fire. While prescribed burning has been promoted for over 40 years in the fynbos region, only about 10 percent of the area burnt has been burnt in prescribed burns. The remaining 90 per cent is burnt in wildfires.
“We have to integrate fire management and alien plant control. If we just let the mountains burn, the problem of invasive aliens will just get worse,” says Dr Van Wilgen.
Fire protection associations (FPAs) have been formed by landowners including state landowners, farmers, conservation agencies, parastatals, rural communities and, in some regions, forestry companies. Members of FPAs unite to predict, prevent, manage and help fight wildfires in specific areas. They seek to protect lives, livelihoods, property and the environment; however their mandate does not always compel them to manage fire for ecological reasons.
He argues that greater collaborative management between conservation and private land owners is required if the spread of alien invasive plants is to be controlled. Another issue for fire bosses to consider, according to Dr Van Wilgen, is that various fynbos species require fire of varying intensity. However, FPAs are not easily granted permits to burn in conditions that will allow a very hot fire, given the risk that ‘hotter’ fires pose more of a risk of burning out of control and threatening human settlements. This dilemma is likely to intensify under conditions of climate