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Golden Gate Highlands National Parks (GGHNP) in the northeastern Free State, started controlled burns in the park. Across much of South Africa, we have vegetation types that are prone to wildfires. The time of the year that the different areas are prone are directly related to their respective wet and dry seasons. The two vegetation types that are notoriously known for wildfires are the fynbos and grassland biomes. Incidentally, the fynbos biome has a fire risk during the summer months, while the grassland biome has a high fire risk in winter.

GGHNP is currently the only grassland national park in South Africa and can be divided into grassland and woodland/forest. The park contains over 60 species of grasses. The grassland fire risk is due to the area receiving high summer rains which makes the area lush green with much moisture in the air and in the environment.  In winter there is no rain, but also the severe cold weather and frost causes the grasses to dry out and be receptive to fires. For thousands of years fires have been part of the GGHNP environment and the grassland biome is described as fire-prone, fire-adapted, and fire-driven*.

In tune with norms practised by modern societies, we implement integrated fire management solutions. For GGNHP and other protected areas, this means that you must have resources and competencies in place to manage fires for the benefit of biodiversity as well as to reduce the risk of fires to human infrastructure. With regards to the latter, it is a legal requirement that landowners need to put fire protection measures and resources in place to also protect their neighbours from fires that originate on their land.

South African National Parks (SANParks) has been conducting controlled burns in most national parks for years. GGHNP uses controlled biodiversity burns as some of the tools in the park. This means that the prevailing weather is considered, resources and manpower are in place, and other major fires in the vicinity are considered. A biodiversity burn is intended to respond to a patch of vegetation that needs to burn to be rejuvenated.  Certain veld types, like fynbos and grassland, will lose species over time if fire is excluded for a long period of time. This burn stimulates seeds and underground stems to spring back to life and re-populate the ecosystem.  Often species that have disappeared for years tend to return after such a fire.

In the case of control burns for fire breaks, the amount of vegetation that is lost is minimal. With an extent of 33,000 ha, the total extent of the vegetation burnt will be about 1% or 3,000 ha.  However, the park engages with fire ecologists to research the fact that these areas are burnt every year, which would not simulate the natural fire frequency of the area. The loss of grazing for wildlife is therefore negligible. A wildfire, on the other hand, can be far more extensive.

During September and October 2023, a total of 18,000 ha of the GGHNP grassland burnt. This is a significant reduction of grazing that is removed. However, because the GGHNP grassland is known to be a fire-prone system, the SANParks scientific services undertake game counts every two years, and other vegetation specialists constantly monitor the condition of the park vegetation habitats. Fire ecology researchers also monitor the impact of fires on the health of the vegetation and grazing capacity.  The number of large herbivores that are maintained in the park takes all of these factors into account so that a fire does not leave a vast number of animals stranded without grazing.

During fire breaks there is no loss of herbivores and not even small mammals, as they can move out of the area very quickly. During wildfires, large herbivores move away effectively, and small mammals go underground.

Since the vegetation is fire-adapted, one can see the recovery of the plants within 2 months after a fire. With one bout of rain, the lush green will return within a few months as well.

It must therefore be understood that fire is not necessarily a destructive feature of the grassland biome. Instead, fire management is critical to ensure a balance between managing to retain the rich biodiversity as well as mitigating the risk of fires to human lives and property.