1029-B1
The entire rangeland/woodland in Kutcha Woreda, South Ethiopia is burned every year during the dry season. The fire is deliberately set by local people for various reasons: to remove dry grass and initiate new flushes of grass, to eradicate ticks, tsetse flies and other harmful insects or pests to livestock, to clear agricultural land and harvest forest honey. However, the fire has also had a number of negative impacts on the local environment, including degradation of the forest vegetation, reduction in the population of wild animals, loss of farmers’ properties such as houses and perennial crops and critical shortage of cattle feed until the first shower.
Thus, with the full consent of the local people, a Community-Based Forest Fire Management Program, which can accommodate both the interest of communities and the need to conserve the natural resources, was recommended to overcome the negative effects of forest fire. The program has two components. The Local Level Land use Planning (LLLP) and Controlled Burning (CB). The LLLP will assist the community in identifying or allocating among other things, grazing areas; where the proposed CB will be implemented under controlled conditions.
Forest fire is an increasing contributory factor to the loss of forests in Ethiopia. Though the extent of damage is not recorded, a vast area of woodland and bushland is affected by fire every year. Forest fire is not limited to the woodland and grassland areas, but its incidence is also increasing in the high forest areas, where it causes serious ecological, social and economic damages. For instance, the most devastating forest fire, which occurred between February and April 2000, has destroyed a total of about 150,000 ha of mainly valuable natural high forests, and an estimated 980 ha of natural coffee stands in the southern and eastern parts of the country.
This has brought a growing concern from the government and necessitated development of an effective forest fire management plan and strategies to combat fire hazards. Apparently, forest fire protection task force has been established at national and local levels. Further, an FAO (TCP) assisted program was set-up within the Ministry of Agriculture, in July 2001, with the aim to develop an effective infrastructure for forest fire management and to increase country capability through training programs and participatory involvement of local communities.
This paper presents the result of study undertaken on the cause and impact of forest fire in the woodland of Kutcha Woreda, South Ethiopia. The main objective of the study was to assess the root causes of the fire and its effect on the local environment mainly forest resources and wildlife, and suggest controlling measures that involves the local communities. The study was conducted in collaboration with the Ethiopian Rural Self Help Association (ERSHA), an indigenous NGO operating in the mentioned woreda, with a mission to support the rural communities in their efforts to attain household food security by implementing gender sensitive and sustainable development programs, through active participation of the stakeholders, especially the target communities.
The study area: The study area is located in Kutcha Woreda, in the southern part of the country, some 450 km from the capital, Addis Ababa. It is situated in the lowland to mid-highland areas, with an altitude ranging from 800 - 2500 m.a.s.l. The mean annual rainfall is between 1100 mm - 1600 mm.The mean annual temperature is around 220c with a maximum temperature reaching as high as 300c in dry season.
The population is about 52,534, and lives on crop and livestock production. Livestock plays an important role in the economic and social welfare of the people. The main source of animal feed is open grazing in the range lands. Thus, most of the lowland plain (range lands) which are burned every year, are largely used communally for livestock grazing. Livestock production is affected by a number of diseases, the most important being trypanosomiasis, which spreads by tsetse flies.
The vegetation can be broadly classified as Tropical lowland - woodland or wooded grassland. The dominant trees are Combretum spp. and Terminalia brownii. The less common tree species include Piliostigma thonnangi, Tamarandus indica, Acacia seyal, Ficus acrocarpa and Balanites aegyptiaca. The ground is covered with more or less continues layer of perennial grasses growing as high as 2 m. The wild animals, commonly seen in the open lowland, include common bush backs, Olive baboons, Gureza monkey and warthog. As the study area borders the Maze Controlled Hunting Areas, it provides shelter for a wide variety of wild animals. Therefore, there are as many as 25 mammals, which include Swayne’s Hartebeest, Waterbuck, Mountain reedbuck, Greater Kudu, Serval, Civet cat, Porcupine, Duiker and Spotted Hyenas. Further, a total of 129 bird species have been recorded (Leykun, 1996).
Study design: The study was based on the information/data obtained from primary and secondary sources on selected three Kebeles (Daho, Kodo and Morka), the offices of ERSHA/KIRDP, Woreda’s Agricultural Development and Administration. Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) was used to collect primary information. Semi-structured interviews and discussions were held with local elders, representatives and members of the three Kebeles.
Causes of forest fire: There is no documented information on the historical trend and the extent of the destruction or damage caused by fire in the study area. However, the farmers have indicated that, since their childhood, the entire valley and the hill sites of the woreda have been burnt down every year during the dry season. According to the same source, the practice of burning has long been traditionally considered as a tool for removal of dry grass and initiation of new palatable grasses. The dry season persists usually from October to February, during which the grass and the other undergrowth vegetation become dry and serve as an ideal fuel for fire. Then, the first fire (ignition) always starts from the central plains at a distance from the villages and farm areas. Such fire which is set in one or more than one localities spread by wind and continue burning for a long period. In view of the density and type of the ground vegetation (surface litter), the frequency of burning and grazing practices; the fire in this area can be categorized as more or less rapidly spreading surface fire.
It has not been difficult to know that the local communities for several reasons deliberately set almost all the forest fire in the concerned area. Hence, the fire is mostly set to remove the matured/dry grass and then initiate new palatable grasses for cattle. In addition to pasture production, the local people set fire to eradicate ticks, snakes, tsetse flies and other insects or pests, which they consider harmful to livestock. Fire is also set for driving away the wild animals, which destroy crop fields, for clearing agricultural land, for wild honey collection and to open or locate footpaths.
Views of the community on forest fire: Some of the respondents have pointed out that they have not recognized/realized the environmental danger of forest fire, except the property loses (houses/tukuls and grain stores) that happens sometimes. However, the majority pointed out that forest fire has negative effects such as destroying villages, field crops and natural forests. It causes also critical shortage of animal feed from the period of burning until the first shower, particularly in the extended dry period. Some of the interviewed farmers believe that the loss of natural vegetation as a result of repeated burning of the rangelands, is one of the factors responsible for the changes in the local climate, shortage of rainfall, frequent drought and drying up of springs and rivers.
In general, the communities are well aware of the negative impact of forest fire, and are supporting the measure to stop it, if they find appropriate solution for the above-mentioned problems, which may arise due to exclusion of fire. In line with this, the majority of respondants have also appreciated the option of controlled burning, but they lack knowledge and experience to exercise it.
The impact of forest fire: The forest fire has brought a number of negative impacts on the socioeconomic life of the community. It has destroyed several tukuls/houses in the villages, together with properties such as grain stores, domestic utensils, farm implements and perennial crops.
In general, the impact of fire on vegetation depends primarily upon the intensity of fire both in terms of burning frequency and the severity of each fire. In areas with high accumulation of litter, fire may cause more damage even on fire resistant species. However, light fire may have no effect, especially on fire resistant species. The susceptibility to fire also depends on the thickness of the bark. In most cases the fire adapted trees; like the Combretum spp., can develop a thick corky bark, which can serve as insulator. The other common adaptation is the capacity of sprouting/coppicing from underground organs (Soares, 1991), or through the dormant buds that regenerate after the exposed parts is damaged by fire (Velez; 1991). Thus, most of the tropical lowland tree species resist wildfire through these ways. In cases where fire does not kill trees, it can cause indirect damage such as producing fire scars increasing vulnerability to insect attack and diseases.
The damaging effect of fire on the forest vegetation of the study area can easily be seen from the composition and physical structure of the forest in the rangeland. The natural forests are depleted much as a result of the fire set every year and continuous exploitation for fuel and construction purposes. The average stock density can thus be estimated as low as 10m3/ha. Fire is not the only factor, shifting cultivation and encroachment as a result of population pressure and intensive grazing have also contributed much to forest degradation, and thus reduced biomass. One can easily observe that some pocket areas, which have not been exposed to fire, have a relatively higher stocking of trees and shrubs than the annually burned valleys and plains. The majority of the interviewed person have pointed out that repeated annual burning in the area has lead to forest degradation, thus resulting in the loss of potential tree species, which otherwise are useful for construction purpose. Further, it affected the growth of some important shrubs, bushes and herbs and annual grasses, hence resulting in the reduction in the quality and quantity of browsing and grazing species.
Forest fire has also some indirect effects on wildlife and their habitat. These may include destruction of nesting site (Wade and Lundsford, 1990), and in extreme cases direct mortality of wild animals and livestock (Flasse, 2000). Though it may improve the availability of pasture for some herbivorous animals such as antelopes and Swayne’s hartebeest, as also indicated by the local people, fire has an indirect effect leading to the disruption of wildlife patterns and the entire habitat. During fire, large animals such as the hyenas, Swayne’s hartebeest and antelope usually move or migrate to an unburned area. Some reptiles like snakes and rats are reported to escape from the light fire by hiding themselves in the holes or cracking ground (Woube, 1998). But, this is unlikely in situation where the heat of excessive fire penetrates deep into the soil. Thus, as also pointed out by the local community, the forest fire coupled with other human activities has lead to a considerable reduction in the population of wild animals in the area.
Generally, fire is among the major threats to the forest vegetation in Ethiopia. The destruction caused by fire is much greater than the damage caused by forest disease and harmful insects. A thorough research has not been so far conducted on the ecological effect of fire in the wooded grassland and other similar vegetation formation of the country. Studies made on similar ecosystem elsewhere in tropical countries indicate that repeated forest fires can destroy the entire flora, leading to site deterioration, run off and accelerated soil erosion.
However, several reports have indicated that light fires in tropical savanna grasslands may serve as an important factor for reproduction and regeneration of the already fire adapted vegetation. Laurence et al, (1975) reported that fire is a major ecological factor maintaining tropical savannas and grasslands; and primitive people at the forest grassland interface in all tropical areas used fire. On the other hand, Shepherd (1992) reported that complete protection in the Anogeissus - Combretum forest in Nigeria has lead to changing the savannah back to rain forests. In the Ethiopian context, after the ban of rangeland fire in the Borena plain for two years (in late 1980s), undesirable bushes and shrubs invaded the rangeland. Consequently, burning was later allowed, following the appeal of the Borana pastoral communities.
A study carried out in Key Afer- Shalu Luka, South Omo Zone (Ethiopia), showed that burning the woodland is one intervention in which herders can avail fresh grazing materials (ECO Consult, 1997). The report has further indicated that ticks and tsetse flies, both adult and larva populations, are controlled effectively by burning. The killing of ticks reduces tick borne diseases while control of Tsetse flies reduce trypanosomiasis that would increase production and productivity of livestock. Similarly, controlled burning is practiced as a range management in the South African savannas (Trollope & Trollope, 2000). In this case the fire is used to remove "moribund" and/or unacceptable grass materials and prevent the encroachment of undesirable plants.
The local communities of the study area are more or less aware of the positive and negative impact of forest fire in their locality. Obviously, fire can produce essential benefits for local people, and at the same time pose a distinct threat to people, property and the entire ecosystem. For instance, in burned areas, one can observe a good growth of grass, which is palatable for cattle grazing, and they are relatively clear and accessible than the unburned ones. Based on this observation, it can be concluded that burning is advantageous in terms of livestock production. However, from the conservation point of view, burning has a negative effect of damaging the local environment (including forests and wildlife resources). Therefore, it can be said that the negative impact over weighs the temporary benefit, which is limited largely to livestock production. From this, it was further concluded that strengthening the intervention in the livestock sub-sector could contribute much towards reducing or even completely controlling the deliberate burning of the grassland.
As noted earlier, the local people have clearly indicated their collaborative agreement on measures to control or ban the forest fire as long as appropriate measure is designed to avert the problem that would arise due to fire exclusion. In this case, the major problems that might arise are scarcity (loss) of pasture or grass for livestock and the infestation of ticks and other insect/pests harmful to livestock.
This necessitated drawing of an appropriate strategy that can accommodate both the interest of the local community and the needs to conserve the natural resources and thereby reduce excessive damage to the environment. Hence, a Community-Based Forest Fire Management Program (CBFMP) was recommended to mitigate the problem. The suggested program has two major components, which should be implemented in two stages, with full participation of the local communities. These are Local Level Land Use Planning (LLLP) and Controlled or Prescribed Burning; with strict condition that the later component should be undertaken only after the former task is completed.
The LLLP to be conducted at Kebele level will assist the community in formulating a comprehensive management plan for sustainable use and development of the land resources under their jurisdiction. The planning process should be undertaken through active participation of the local community and their organizations (Kebeles). The Executive Committee of each Kebele will play the leading role, while all the necessary technical support such as the planning procedure, identification of the existing land use patterns; recording of data and production of the sketch plan will be provided by the concerned Development Agents. The LLLP will assist each Kebele to allocate its land (natural) resources, especially the common land for various purposes such as agriculture/cultivation, grazing areas, conservation/protection areas and production forests. With this, each Kebele would be able to identify and plan the specific areas in which the proposed controlled burning would be implemented.
Controlled burning is fire that is applied deliberately to specific areas of land in order to accomplish predetermined management objectives. The operation of controlled burning has to be undertaken with full precaution, under controlled condition. Basically, the implementation requires trained and experienced personnel, knowledge of the behavior of the expected fire, information on the moisture content of the vegetation, a precise weather forecast and detailed planning. In view of this, Lex (1986) claimed that the above conditions are not met in the country, and thus has not supported the implementation of controlled burning.
But, the application of the controlled burning recommended here is limited in grazing areas to be identified by local communities within individual Kebele. In this case, burning will not be allowed outside the grazing area to be clearly demarcated and set aside for this purpose. The operation in this specific area will also be carried out under fully controlled conditions such as with construction of appropriate fire lines along the entire boundary of the concerned areas. The major objective is to remove dry grasses and produce palatable grass for livestock feed.
As noted earlier, if forest fire is to be reduced and ultimately stopped completely, then the problem of animal feed and animal health has to be addressed by introducing feed preservation mechanisms like hay preparation, and by alleviating the incidence of livestock diseases especially trypanasomosis and other important diseases. Finally, the integration of efforts by all stakeholders, especially the Government organizations, NGOs and the beneficiary communities, is quite essential to control the problem of forest fire in the woodland areas.
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