title: The ongoing development of a pragmatic and adaptive fire management policy in a large African savanna protected area.
abstract: This paper describes recent changes to the fire management policy of the 1.9 million ha Kruger National Park in South Africa. It provides a real-life example of adaptive learning in an environment where understanding is incomplete, but where management nonetheless has to proceed. The previous policy called for the application of fire to meet burnt area targets that were set for administrative subdivisions, and that were assessed at the scale of the entire park. This was problematic because the park is large and heterogeneous, and because sound ecological motivations that could link burning prescriptions to ecological objectives were missing. The new policy divides the park into five fire management zones on the basis of differences in mean annual rainfall, historic fire return periods, and geology. In addition, it proposes fire management actions designed to achieve specified ecological objectives in each zone, and includes fire-regime related thresholds and associated ecological outcomes against which to assess the effectiveness of management. The new policy is an improvement over previous iterations, but several challenges remain. Most important among these would be to continually improve the understanding of the effects of fire, and to develop frameworks for assessing the impacts of fire together with other ecosystem drivers that interact strongly with fire to influence the attainment of ecological objectives.
authors.affiliation: CSIR Natural Resources and the Environment, P.O. Box 320, Stellenbosch 7599, South Africa; Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa. Electronic address: bvwilgen@csir.co.za.
authors.forename: Brian W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: van Wilgen
authors.affiliation: Scientific Services, South African National Parks, Kruger National Park, Private Bag X402, Skukuza 1350, South Africa.
authors.forename: Navashni
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Govender
authors.affiliation: Scientific Services, South African National Parks, Kruger National Park, Private Bag X402, Skukuza 1350, South Africa.
authors.forename: Izak P J
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Smit
authors.affiliation: Scientific Services, South African National Parks, Kruger National Park, Private Bag X402, Skukuza 1350, South Africa.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: MacFadyen
mesh_terms: D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D058735:Environmental Policy; D005390:Fires; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013019:South Africa
keywords: Biodiversity; Bush encroachment; Elephants; Geology; Kruger National Park; Rainfall