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Achievement Report Karongwe August 2017

Report Title
Fire Management

Objective
To assist with reserve management and ecological restoration.

Report
A sure sign that winter is coming is
when only the evergreen trees stand
out in the bushveld. As picturesque as
this scene can be, it does however hold
a severe risk that comes in the form of
uncontrollable bushfires. The most
effective way of managing such risk is
to fight fire with fire.

Controlled fires are used to reduce the

fuel load of dry organic matter that
stands stagnant in the veld. During
winter, rainfall levels decline and
weather conditions often become far
more predictable. This in turn makes it
an ideal time to purposefully burn and
contain the fires natural movement, a technique known as cold fires. The once homogenous landscape,
dominated on by similar species, is then enriched with nutrients and space for ecological restoration and
succession to occur.

Over the past four weeks GVI staff and volunteers have been assisting the reserve manager in conducting said
burns. Our goal was to significantly reduce the reserves fenceline fuel load, thus lessening the risk of a fire
originating from exterior roads, entering and spreading inside the reserve. This not only promotes ecological
restoration but also increases visibility levels for the anti-poaching team when checking the condition of the
fences. If the perimeter of the reserve becomes overgrown then breaks in the fenceline, which poachers could
potentially utilise, would go unnoticed and put our endangered species at further risk.

In order to assist with the operation we each armed ourselves with specially designed fire blanketing brooms
and teamed up with management. Together we walked the entire reserve perimeter, following the slow
progress of the burn, ensuring that not even the smallest ember jumped inside our fence.

We managed to complete the entire reserve during a limited period of favourable weather conditions,
ensuring that it could be conducted thoroughly and in the safest manner. Thanks to all the volunteers and staff
that were involved in this operation, we are looking forward to seeing the next rains give rise to those new
shoots of vegetation.