ZAMBIA
Figure 3: Total burned area in Zambia 2003-2012 (1000ha)
FAO 2014
Zambia falls within the most affected areas by bush fires in Africa as approximately 25% of Zambia land is exposed to bush fires every year. Most affected areas are in the northern parts of the country, notably protected forests and game management areas. Bush fire events have had devastating impacts especially on rural communities, but unfortunately no data is available on economical losses due to the wildfires, nor estimates on deforestation they are causing.
Causes of fires
Control burning (good) burning especially for fires occurring in May/June
Clearing of vegetation for agriculture purposes (good fires)
Slush and Burn agriculture practices
Clearing of land for hunting, though illegal national parks and game management areas
Charcoal production processes
Hunting seasons for mice and honey especially in croplands and woodlands
Negligence and arson, smokers, children playing with fire, and camp fires
Natural causes such as lightening (minimal, more monitoring required)
Institutional arrangements and legislation
There is no single institution with an overall responsibility to fight fires in Zambia.
Whilst the Forestry Department and ZAWA hold the jurisdictions over forest resources on state lands, the majority of forest resources can be found on customary lands, which more generally fall under customary law and management systems. Here the authority in charge is the Chief and village headmen. There is no systematic plan for how forests and woodlands on customary land should be managed, but customary institutional arrangements vary across the different chiefdoms (Kokwe and Mickels-Kokwe, 2012).
The Forests Act of 1973 stipulates that forest use on Customary Lands should be for subsistence use where clearing land for agriculture and wood fuel is permitted, but charcoal production and timber harvesting requires a license from the Forestry Department (Mason-Case, 2011). No timber may be harvested and transported across customary lands without a license (GRZ & UN-REDD, 2010). In reality illegal timber harvesting and charcoal production is most severe on customary lands. Areas close to urban centres experience the highest rates of deforestation and degradation, for the most part due to the high demand for charcoal. Although the Chief may allocate land for agriculture purposes, there is little control over how land is actually used and in many cases land is cleared purely for the purpose of charcoal production and then left barren after one or two seasons of cultivation when nutrient supply diminishes.
Although the law provides clear directions for the prosecution of forestry offences the reality is that there is very limited on-the-ground presence of the Forestry Department to enforce forestry regulations. Since charcoal production constitutes a core livelihood income and source of energy, not just in rural but also urban areas, the practice is quite widespread across the country. Given the limited institutional and especially logistical capacity of the Forestry Department to maintain oversight over its protected estates and customary lands, law enforcement is weak and constitutes a key barrier to effective control of illegal harvesting activities. A new Forest Policy and Forest Bill (2012) were in early 2013 in the Parliament for approval, and it is expected that this bill will address the need for elaborate procedures and possibly stiffer penalties for punishing forest crime in national courts.
In addition to State-led political administration Zambia has a strong traditional system, consisting of tribal chiefdoms, governed by Chiefs who delegate rights and responsibilities within their jurisdictions. Areas under traditional management (customary lands) is occupied by approximately 73 tribes, headed by 240 chiefs, 8 senior chiefs and 4 paramount chiefs (GRZ & UN-REDD, 2010). The traditional system is recognised in the Constitution as a formal arm of the Government of the Republic of Zambia, but since independence the traditional authorities have been effectively separated from government administration (Chikulo, 2009). In 2011 a new Ministry - the Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs - was set up to strengthen the role of traditional authorities and the House of Chiefs, who were in early 2013 in the process of preparing a plan for how to re-integrate the traditional authorities into local government structures.
Education and training
There is lack of higher education in the universities on fire management, except couple of theoretical lessons under the forest protection courses in Copperbelt University. The University has taken initial steps to start collaboration with Stellenboch University in South Africa to develop their forestry curricula and start student exchange, The only place where practical training on fire management is given is at Forestry College in Kitwe where most of the field foresters in the country have actually got their training.
Problems to be addressed
Education and training needs were mentioned by several stakeholders as well as low general “environmental awareness” of people. There is also lack of higher education in the universities on fire management and the only place where training on fire management is given is at Forestry College in Kitwe where most of the field foresters in the country have actually got their training. Zambia is also lacking of national fire monitoring system including centralized data storage system as well as research on impacts of wildfires. One of the main challenges of Zambia is the failed natural resources and land management policy, like in many other countries in the region. The communal lands have been taken away from the local communities’ control, in order to be managed by the government. Government institutes haven’t been able fill their role and people have been exploiting the situation which has lead to unsustainable use of the forest resources eg. illegal and uncontrolled charcoal burning.
“Despite the historical importance of fire as a savanna land management tool, much controversy still surrounds discussions on anthropogenic fire utilization and the sustainability of indigenous land management practices in African savannas. This controversy is arguably a result of a discord between official fire policies and actual indigenous fire practices – a discord based on a gap in existing knowledge of, and a lack of informed literature on, the importance of fire for socio-economic and environmental survival in savanna environments.“ Eriksen 2007
Proposed activities
Series of awareness raising activities (radio and TV programmes and outdoor activities);
Short “training of trainers” courses at College of Forestry at Kitwe by national and international experts on various topics related to fire management for the staff of government institutes, traditional leaders of local communities, university students, etc;
The Cobberbelt University has initiated some collaboration with Stellenboch University in South Africa, but further support would be needed to develop their forestry curricula and student exchange programme,
Supporting Forest Research Institute in establishment of fire monitoring system and research on environmental impacts and emissions from fires. This could be done in collaboration with the Stellenboch University, UN-REDD programme already active in the country or/and with the FAO-Finland Programme;
Development of National Fire Management Strategy and facilitation oflegislation review in order to create by-laws to some areas, giving local communities their traditional rights back to manage their land areas in selected areas;
The South African voluntary Fire Protection Associations (FPAs) systems could also be piloted in carefully selected hotspot areas.
Procuring fire hand tools for selected local communities and organizing trainings for their use.
Before starting activities with the local communities the “House of chief” system should be consulted and certain hotspot areas identified. “House of chief” system is like a traditional leader’s parliament in Zambia, which buy-in is crucial for successful field activities. Their support would be also needed for creating by-laws and general awareness raising on fire management with local communities. Hotspot areas mentioned by some stakeholders included Luapula, Muchinga, Northern Province and Kafue flats.
Danida has been active in supporting the forestry sector in Zambia, but unfortunately they closed their office in Lusaka in the end of last year. However there are indications that they might still be interested in supporting some activities in future. World Bank is also active in Zambia and should be consulted.
SOUTH AFRICA Damages by fires
Figure 4: Total burned area in South Africa 2003-2012 (1000ha)
FAO 2014
The wildfire situation has reportedly worsened significantly across South Africa during the past several years(Forsyth et al., 2010). There have been major and catastrophic fires in many areas. Land use patterns are changing rapidly under the influence of diverse factors, including the expansion of towns and cities, causing an expanding wildland urban interface and exposing more assets to the hazard of wildfires. The total economic impact of wildfires in the 2005/6 financial year, for example, was estimated at USD 570 million (including downstream economic impacts such as pulp and paper from commercial forestry losses, but not including eco-system services losses). Department of Water Affairs and Forestry Parliamentary Portfolio Committee, 2006.
Causes of fires
Assuming that fire remains an inescapable ecological factor, the root causes of the increasing vulnerability of life, property and resources to climate change-included wildfires include: excessive build-up of fuel loads; deficiencies in institutional coordination and cooperation in fire management; limited fire risk management planning in the urban-development interface with fire-prone vegetation; and low levels of awareness.
Many key decision makers in local, provincial and national government don’t always fully understand the role of fires in fynbos ecosystem, or may have preconceived ideas about fires. Further, there is limited acknowledgement of the role that alien plat species have on increasing fuel loads and thus the risk of an increase in unmanageable fires.
Institutional arrangements
South Africa has a long history in the management of fires in wildlands, reflecting the need to balance the ecological requirements of the natural vegetation with the pervasive and growing risk of damaging fires to the country. The two key acts governing the administration of fires in wildlands in South Africa are the National Veld and Forest Fire Act (NVFFA)101 of 1998 and the Fire Brigade Services Act (FBSA) 99 of 1997.
The National Veld and Forest Fire Act aims to facilitate an integrated approach to the management of ‘veld’, forest and mountain fires. It links natural resource management by property owners – collectively or individually – to the integrated fir management system. The act is primarily a piece of environmental management legislation and not an emergency services law. Chapter 2 of the act provides for the establishment of voluntary Fire Protection Associations (FPAs) between local owners and land (including communal land) for the purpose of collective fire management, and their empowerment through registration and the recognition of their Fire Protection Officers (FPOs). It sets out the duties and responsibilities of FPAs and links them to municipal fire services through the requirement that the officer in the municipality empowered by the FBSA should also be the FPO for the FPA. Chapter 3 of the act introduces the national Fire Danger Rating System (FDRS), an early warning system and fire-control support system for the country as a whole, but resolves to local scale within 42 danger rating regions. Chapter 4 sets mandatory requirements for boundary firebreaks in areas of fire risk, and chapter 5 sets minimum standards for expedient to the effective employment of its service.
The Fire Brigade Services Act (FBSA) provides for the establishment, coordination and standardisation of fire brigade services. Local and District Municipalities are required in terms of the act to establish and maintain a fire brigade service for inter alia: preventing the outbreak or spread of a fire; fighting and extinguishing a fire; and the protection of life or property against a fire. The act enables local authorities (i.e. municipalities) to make by-laws or regulations for its area of jurisdiction regarding any matter which hat local authority deems necessary or expedient to the effective employment of its service.
Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) has overall responsibility for the implementation of the NVFFA. It oversees the establishment and administration of all Fire Protection Associations. Working on Fire (WoF) is a government funded job creation programme, under the overall administration of the Department of Environmental Affairs(DEA). It is funded by an annual government grant, supplemented by generation of its own income. WoF’s primary function is to act in support of the legally responsible fire fighting services.
The NVFFA makes provision for the establishment of FPAs as means involving landowners and local government in fire management. FPAs have the following functions: develop and apply a fire management strategy; co-ordinate strategies and actions with adjoining FPAs; make rules for members; organize the training of members with regard to fire fighting and fire prevention. Private landowners may become members of an FPA, but in case they won’t they are directly responsible for conforming to the requirements of the NVFFA.
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