News from the field:
Fired up for conservation
By Darren Pietersen, Ecology Manager, Soutpansberg Protected Area
Globally, “wildfires” are seen as terrifying, destructive, unnatural, and something to be stopped at all costs. This sentiment is understandable when the effects of runaway fires are seen – for instance the large-scale fires in Australia, and those in the Northern Cape province in the past few years that resulted in thousands of hectares of grazing being lost, countless livestock burning to death, and infrastructure being lost.
But fire is, in fact, an integral part of the ecosystem. Savannahs and grasslands rely on fire (and herbivory) for their maintenance by preventing bush encroachment, and many plant species, including many fynbos species, rely on fire to germinate their seeds. In his study comparing historical and contemporary photographs of the Soutpansberg, Dr Norbert Hahn established that the Soutpansberg overall has become much denser in the past 150 years, with the loss of most of the Soutpansberg grasslands (and their associated species) through the removal of large grazers and fire from the ecosystem. We cannot reintroduce bulk grazers to the majority of the Soutpansberg (yet), but we can ‘reintroduce’ fire.
The EWT Medike Reserve is in the process of reintroducing fire as a management tool on the Soutpansberg range. Like many properties on the Soutpansberg area, most of Medike Reserve has not burnt in a very long time – in the region of three decades, whereas historically the Soutpansberg would have probably burnt every five to ten years.
This absence of fire has resulted in the build-up of a vast quantity of moribund material such as dead grass and other plant debris, resulting in unnaturally high fuel loads and poor grazing for animals. This build-up of dead plant material can result in intense, difficult to manage wildfires – as we experienced last year when a lightning strike resulted in a fire that burnt for two weeks on farms neighbouring Medike.
In an effort to start restoring natural ecosystem functions, Medike is implementing management burns – purposefully burning a section of veld under appropriate ecological conditions, but also under conditions where the fire can be safely managed. Rangeland burns can legally only be set between September and November in Limpopo province (and only with the necessary permits), whereas all firebreaks need to legally be burnt before the end of June.
In preparation for a large (~600 ha) management burn planned for September this year, the Medike team burnt a 12 km long firebreak (with an average width of 20 m) around the block earmarked to be burnt. Firebreaks are not only a legal requirement, but will also allow us to burn the main block much more safely, posing a lower risk to the remainder of the reserve and neighbouring properties.
The management burn intends to provide improved grazing, converting the current moribund grass – which is probably about as nutritious as cardboard – into fresh, nutritious grass. In addition, the burn is also intended to open up the vegetation in general, returning its structure to a more natural, more open habitat by the remedying of bush encroachment. This will also provide additional habitat for grazers and a myriad of other species that require more open habitats. The intention is to burn the entire Medike Reserve in sections over the next four to five years, mimicking the natural fire cycle.
The SPA team burning firebreaks on Medike to safeguard vulnerable infrastructure against potential unplanned fires, and to prepare for a large management burn planned for later this year. The team did exceptionally well under often very difficult circumstances, and are now all accomplished firefighters.
- We are grateful to Jonsson for sponsoring the fire-resistant overalls, which were tested to their max.