In the last two decades uncontrolled fires have become a major concern in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Each year uncontrolled wildfires spread throughout the region having serious consequences including environmental degradation, negatively impacting on land use and community livelihoods and increasing greenhouse gas emissions. These cross-sectoral issues highlight the importance of socio-economic factors in the management of fire and the necessity to engage public, private and civil society stakeholders.
To address these issues the SADC/GIZ “Transboundary Use and Protection of Natural Resources in the SADC Region” Project is contributing to implementing the regional Transfrontier Conservation Area Programme (TFCA). The project follows an approach which aims at enhancing possible innovations through pilot activities in TFCAs related to cross-border fire management with training and networking amongst TFCA practitioners.
In recent decades the advent of Integrated Fire Management (IFM) and Community-Based Fire Management (CBFiM) strategies in the region provides an opportunity to achieve cross-sectoral fire management objectives across international boundaries.
In the Kavango Zambezi – Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA-TFCA) the Project has provided support to Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC) and the Associação de Conservaçãodo Ambiente e Desenvolvimento Integrado Rural (ACADIR) to implement a pilot Project: Community-Based Fire Management: An Integrated Transfrontier Fire Management Strategy for Luiana Partial Reserve in Angola and Bwabwata National Park in Namibia.
321Fire, a specialist fire management company focusing on capacity building people and governments to develop and implement IFM and CBFiM strategies, was engaged to provide technical support to CBFiM training and development of an Integrated Transfrontier Fire Management Proposal for Luiana Partial Reserve (PR) and Bwabwata National Park (NP).
This document i) provides a brief overview of the current fire regime and fire management status in Bwabwata NP and Luiana PR; ii) proposes an Integrated Transfrontier Fire Management Approach to achieve PA Management objectives, improve community livelihoods and GHG reductions; and iii) provides recommendations for implementation of the proposed Integrated Transfrontier Fire Management Approach.