KNYSNA NEWS - "The National Veld and forest Fire Act 101 of 1998 (NVFFA) states that any owner on whose land a veldfire may start or burn or from whose land it may spread, must prepare and maintain a firebreak on his/ her side of the boundary, between his or her land and any adjoining land.
This is the responsibility of both the landowners adjacent to each other," warned Dirk Smit, South Cape Fire Protection Association (SCFPA) regional manager.
His warning followed a veld fire that started on the Langvlei Dunes housing estate early in January. After the fire was contained, Gerhard Otto, Eden District Municipality's manager of emergency services, warned residents of Langvlei Dunes (Wilderness/ Kleinkranz area) and other landowners about the dangers of the lack of firebreaks and the presence of alien vegetation.
According to the NVFFA, an owner is obliged to prepare and maintain a firebreak. The owner must further ensure, with due regard to the weather, climate, terrain and vegetation of an area, that the firebreak is wide enough and long enough to have a reasonable chance of preventing a veldfire from spreading to or from neighbouring land.
It further states that the firebreak must not cause soil erosion and must be reasonably free of inflammable material capable of carrying a veldfire.
According to the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act, Act 43 of 1983 (CARA) and the regulations on alien and invasive species under the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act 10 of 2004) (NEMBA), it is the responsibility of landowner to clear their land from invasive trees. This Act was imposed to protect the country's limited water resources.
According to Tessa Oliver, FynbosFire Project co-ordinator, when a fire starts on a privately owned property the owner of which has not complied with the NVFFA, the owner is legally responsible for any damage the fire causes neighbouring properties. "If the owner is a Fire Protection Association (FPA) member and has complied with the Act and FPA's rules, it will be the claimant's responsibility to prove that the land owner was negligent, at his/her own cost. Landowners who are not FPA members must prove their own innocence at their own cost."
Most of the alien vegetation in this country consumes more water than indigenous plants and are depleting the valuable underground water resources. These invasive plants are also responsible for causing exceptionally hot fires and affect the makeup of the soil structure.
According to Justin Lawrence, public liaison officer for Cape Nature, it is currently estimated that invasive aliens cover approximately 10-million hectares in South Africa. "These invasive aliens use approximately 3.3-billion cubic metres of water in excess of that used by native vegetation every year (that is almost 7% of the runoff of the country's water)."
He added that these estimates indicate that the reduction in water yield is already significant and definitely large enough to warrant intervention. "The logical conclusion is that these water losses will increase as alien plants invade the remaining, un-invaded areas," he said.
The Working for Water (WfW) programme was launched in 1995, then administered by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry and now the Department of Environmental Affairs, to assist in the eradication of the alien vegetation in South Africa.
This programme that works in partnership with local communities and government departments, including the Departments of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Agriculture, and Trade and Industry, provincial departments of agriculture, conservation and environment, research foundations and private companies, has had an impact, not only on alien vegetation eradication, but job creation as well.
Since its inception in 1995, the WfW programme has cleared more than one-million hectares of invasive alien plants providing jobs and training to approximately 20 000 people per annum from among the most marginalised sectors of society. Of these, 52% are women.
According to the SCFPA, Eden District Municipality (EDM) has decided, in light of recent increases in wild veld fires, to lighten the burden of fire suppression costs on the landowners through various methods. These include ferrying Eden Fire and Rescue Services resources to a fire and back at no charge; The first hour on the fire line is free - after the first hour the costs will be carried by the landowner (this does not affect the free ferry back); SCFPA members will receive a 50% discount on the fire suppression cost, should the fire continue for longer than one hour; the SCFPA Working on Fire teams are also free for the duration of a fire (food and transport excluded).
"This strategy is to motivate landowners to phone the Eden Fire and Rescue Services, as well as the SCFPA to stop fires before they get out of control. We thank the EDM for helping landowners to protect their property," concluded Smit.
Fires can be reported to the Eden Fire Line on 044 805 5071.
ARTICLE: FRAN KIRSTEN
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