1. Presented by: Arne Purves
A spatially linked Fire Database as a tool for recording, managing and monitoring fire in the Fynbos Biome of the Western Cape, South Africa
Presented by: Arne Purves
Picture: M. Prophet – Burning a prescribed burn in the Goukamma Nature Reserve

2. Presentation Outline Introduction Fynbos and Fire
The Fire Database and Custom ArcView extension
Database Products
Sharing Information
Summary
Acknowledgements

3. WHY IS FYNBOS SO IMPORTANT?
“Fynbos” = Fine leaved vegetation

4. WHERE DOES FYNBOS OCCUR?
Indian Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
Western Cape Province
South Africa
Graphic credit:

5. Beauty and…….

6. ………the Beast!

7. CONSERVATION AREAS IN THE WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE:
10,154 km2 of the Fynbos is in formally protected areas and needs to be actively managed
CapeNature is the Provincial Management Authority

8. Threat to infrastructure and life
MANAGING FIRE IN THE FYNBOS!
Management is complex
Threat to infrastructure and life
But, crucial process in the fynbos ecosystem
Rejuvinates
Water security
Hazard reduction

9. The Fynbos plant community diversity is determined by the fire regime
Managing for ecological objectives is very difficult
Fire return interval
(How old was the vegetation when it burnt?) Fire frequency
(How often has it burnt, and at what intervals?) Fire season
Fire intensity
Fire extent (size)
Local conditions, e.g. fuel biomass, aspect and topography also influence the post fire plant community.
Rainfall gradients vary across the biome and affect post-fire seedling recruitment.
Fire Regime
=> Fynbos fire management is complex

10. THE FIRE DATABASE

11. + Fire Database – Structure and design Front End
Standalone Reserve Database
Front End
Database Layout
Back End
Stores Data +
fire_data.mdb ed to central database
Automates production of maps and reporting products
Script to import fire_data.mdb
CENTRAL FIRE DATABASE
MS ACCESS DATABASE

12. + FIRE DATABASE: DATA FLOW CENTRAL FIRE DATABASE
Current Fires: (from reserve managers)
Electronic fire reports are imported into the database
Historical Fires: (GIS Technician)
Fire records entered into the database manually +
CENTRAL FIRE DATABASE
MS ACCESS DATABASE
ARCVIEW 3:
Spatial data created
Current fires mapped by Managers and checked by GIS Technician
Historical fires mapped from paper records where possible

13. What data are captured & stored?
Data is captured for all areas managed by CapeNature
Unique Fire code
Fire scars/boundaries are mapped using heads up digitizing in ArcView 3.
Large or inaccessible fire scars are mapped from a helicopter or small fixed wing aircraft.

14. The Fire Database User Interface
Contact Arne Purves at for assistance or enquiries should you encounter any problems.

15. The Fire Database records chronological fire events

16. The Fire Database produces a paper fire report
Produces, official hard copy fire report for each fire event

17. ARCVIEW 3 is used to digitize and upload spatial data to the database using a custom extension
Fire scar boundary mapped over a Spot 5 satellite image
Shapefile Functions:
edit
replace
delete
update spatial stats
Calculates:
Vegetation age
Fire Frequency
Fire return intervals

18. The Fire Database stores polygon vertices
MS Access links the spatial data with the attribute data

19. The Fire Database generates a shapefile of all the fires for the Province using the custom extension
2000 fires Largest fire = ha Smallest fire = ha Oldest fire = 1927

20. Our custom extension generates:
Vegetation Age Distribution shapefile
Fire Frequency shapefile
Fire Return Interval table
Effective, adaptive management
Limietberg Nature Reserve
Boland Mountain Complex
Jonkershoek N.R
Cape Town
Hottentots Holland N.R.
Kogelberg Nature Reserve
Important tool for managers

21. Vegetation Age Distribution Map – Boland Mountains

22. Fire Frequency Map – Boland Mountains

23. Burnt area versus no. of fires
FIRE SEASON, Total Ha BURNT AND NUMBER OF FIRES/MONTH GRAPH
Burnt area versus no. of fires
Fire Season
Burned ha in 73 fires in 2005/2006
Peak fire season December to March

24. Fire season patterns are consistent over years
2004/2005
2002/2003
2003/2004

25. Biodiversity GIS (BGIS) website
Information Dissemination and Sharing
Important resource for fire managers
Data is distributed through:
Biodiversity GIS (BGIS) website
Blank copies of the fire database and Arcview extensions are freely available
Collaborative projects e.g. CSIR in Stellenbosch, Cape Town
= Sound management decisions into the future.

26. In Summary: Fynbos fire management is very complex
Collecting, storing and analyzing fire data is a crucial part of fire management in the Fynbos
MS Access and ArcView 3 provides all the functionality that CapeNature requires in an easy-to-distribute package
Challenges? There are many!

27. Questions? THANK YOU! SCGIS (Society for Conservation GIS)
Acknowledgements
SCGIS (Society for Conservation GIS)
CapeNature Conservation
ESRI
Questions?
THANK YOU!