Fire Ecology Fires are, and always have been, a part of the South African landscape. They occur as a natural phenomenon in grasslands, woodlands, fynbos, and sometimes in indigenous forests. South Africa has two fire seasons according to rainfall patterns: the dry summer months in the Western Cape, and the dry winter months in the rest of the country. Often wildland fires are started by lightning or, in mountainous regions, by falling rocks. Most, however, are started by accident by people being careless with open flames and indifferent to the consequences of their carelessness. The Use of Fire to Manage Landscapes A million years ago early humans began to utilise fire and for the last 100 000 years modern humans have used veldfires for hunting and for managing their environment. Today, fire is still employed in the management of veld and forest, to control grazing and habitats, and as a tool in the prevention of uncontrolled fires. However, small fires frequently escalate into disastrous, uncontrolled wildfires. Fire and Alien Vegetation An increase in invasive alien plants is also cause for concern because they increase the fuel loads, which worsens the intensity and heat of the fires, making them more difficult and dangerous to suppress. Fire and Climate Change Under anticipated conditions of Climate Change, temperatures over parts of the interior of South Africa are projected to rise by as much as 3-5°C by the end of the century. Eastern South Africa is expected to experience summers with more intense rainfall events, whilst drier winters are projected for the South Western Cape. Notwithstanding the possibility of more intense rainfall events during summer, dry spells of relatively long duration may be expected to occur more frequently during all seasons. Increasing temperatures and increased drought frequencies combine to exacerbate the incidence of fire risk. Fire Danger Uncontrolled fires are a problem because they pose a risk to life, property, and the environment. The expansion of human settlements across the countryside, into areas bordering fire-adapted conservation lands and fire-vulnerable commercial agriculture, has put people increasingly at risk from runaway fires. The Computer Foundation ran a modelling exercise using data extracted from the Advanced Fire Information System (AFIS) and estimated that annually there were on average 30,000 veldfires burning 3 million hectares of land in SA. As some provinces have a higher fire hazard than others, the percentage of area burnt per province ranged from less than 1 percent in the Northern Cape to approximately 9% in the provinces of Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal and Mpumalanga. Legislation In terms of the National Veld and Forest Fire Act of 1998, the responsibility for the start or spread of a veldfire rests with the land-user. The Act promotes the formation of Fire Protection Associations (FPAs). It is compulsory for all public landowners to be members of a local FPA and private landowners are encouraged to join. The national co-ordination of fire fighting emergencies is enabled by the Disaster Management Act of 2002, which supplies a clear hierarchical structure outlining the powers and duties of the authorities at national, provincial, and local level. It also provides policy and a framework within which disaster management centres, plans, and strategies can be established. Also see National Forest and Fire Laws Amendment Act of 2001.