Opportunities and challenges for savanna burning emissions abatement in southern Africa.

Savanna fires occurring in sub-Saharan Africa account for over 60% of global fire extent, of which more than half occurs in the Southern Hemisphere contributing ~29% of global fire emissions. Building on experience in reducing savanna fire emissions in fire-prone north Australian savannas through implementation of an internationally accredited 'savanna burning' emissions abatement methodology, we explore opportunities and challenges associated with the application of a similar approach to incentivise emissions reduction in fire-prone southern African savannas. We first show that for a focal region covering seven contiguous countries, at least 80% of annual savanna large fire (>250 ha) extent and emissions occur under relatively severe late dry season (LDS) fire-weather conditions, predominantly in sparsely inhabited areas. We then assess the feasibility of adapting the Australian emissions abatement methodology through exploratory field studies at the Tsodilo Hills World Heritage site in north-west Botswana, and the Niassa Special Reserve in northern Mozambique. Our assessment demonstrates that application of a savanna burning emissions abatement method focused on the undertaking of strategically located early dry season (EDS) burning to reduce LDS wildfire extent and resultant emissions meets key technical criteria, including: LDS fine fuels tend to be markedly greater than EDS fuels given seasonal leaf litter inputs; LDS fires tend to be significantly more severe and combust more fuels; methane and nitrous oxide emission factors are essentially equivalent in EDS and LDS periods under cured fuel conditions. In discussion we consider associated key implementation challenges and caveats that need to be addressed for progressing development of savanna burning methods that incentivise sustainable fire management, reduce emissions, and support community livelihoods in wildfire-dominated southern African savannas.

The legacy of colonial fire management policies on traditional livelihoods and ecological sustainability in savannas: Impacts, consequences, new directions.

Land occupation and management systems have defined fire regimes and landscapes for millennia. The savanna biome is responsible for 86% of all fire events, contributes to 10% of the total carbon emissions annually and is home to 10% of the human population. European colonization has been associated with the implementation of fire suppression policies in many tropical savanna regions, markedly disrupting traditional fire management practices and transforming ecosystems. In this paper we assess savanna burning approaches from pre-colonial to contemporary eras in three regions: northern Australia, southern Africa and Brazil. In these regions, fire suppression policies have led to (i) conflicts between government authorities and local communities; (ii) frequent late dry season wildfires and/or (iii) woody encroachment. Such consequences are facilitating changes to fire management policies, including recognition and incorporation of traditional ecological knowledge in contemporary community-based adaptive savanna fire management. Such programs include implementation of prescribed early dry season fires and, in some regions, generating income opportunities for rural and traditional communities through the reduction of late dry season wildfires and associated greenhouse gas emissions. We present a brief history of fire management policies in these three important savanna regions, and identify ongoing challenges for implementation of culturally and ecologically sustainable fire management policies.