Wildfires ravage 32 000 hectares of Western Cape land this fire season – The Mail & Guardian

Firefighters battle a blaze on Signal Hill in Cape Town. Wildfires are likely to become frequent. Photo: Rodger Bosch/Getty Images

Wildfires have scorched more than 32 000 hectares of land in the Western Cape during the latest fire season, according to CapeNature.

From October 2024 until the end of February this year, 32 187ha of land burned. The entity has spent more than R12 million on combating and preventing fires.

“CapeNature-managed reserves have borne the brunt, with nearly 19 000ha affected, while private lands and mountain catchment areas have also suffered extensive damage,” said CapeNature, a governmental organisation that maintains wilderness areas and public nature reserves in the province.

“The fire-ravaged Boland mountain range continues to have the lion’s share of fires, with

Limietberg Nature Reserve and Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve particularly hard hit, with 25 fires between the two reserves. 

The Hottentots Holland area experienced a fire that destroyed the Nuweberg community hall, CapeNature said, noting that there is an investigation into the cause of this fire.

The Swartberg protected area accounted for about half of all hectares burned and was the worst-affected area, with 15 545ha burned, including 12 359ha of CapeNature-managed land.

Since April last year, 78 fires were recorded and emergency teams have battled flames across some of the province’s most ecologically sensitive areas. 

“Although CapeNature has exceeded the number of fires that it had in the 2023-24 fire season, there has been a reduction in overall hectares burnt with 78 000ha burnt in the previous year.

While some fires were attributed to natural causes, others were linked to human activity,

which included “near-misses” in plantation areas and controlled burns that escalated, it said.

Increased public awareness and adherence to fire safety regulations, particularly during the dry summer months when the risk of wildfires is highest, are critical to wildfire prevention.

Anton Bredell, the member of the executive council responsible for local government, environmental affairs, and development planning, said CapeNature is also working on long-term strategies to improve fire management, which includes fuel load reduction and community education programmes.

Firefighting teams from CapeNature, district municipalities, volunteer wildfire services, private landowners and others “have worked tirelessly to contain the flames, often in challenging terrain and under extreme weather conditions”. 

CapeNature said the Western Cape’s unique biodiversity, including its fynbos ecosystems, are highly susceptible to fire damage. 

“While fire is a natural part of these ecosystems, the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires pose a significant threat to the environment and local communities. For now, the focus remains on containment and prevention as the province braces for the possibility of more fires throughout the rest of March and April.”

March has already seen a further five fires, and long-term forecasts show minimal rain and relatively high temperatures.