Tending for Cattle: Traditional Fire Management in Ethiopian Montane Heathlands

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Fire has long been a principal tool for manipulating ecosystems, notably for pastoralist cultures, but in modern times, fire use has often been a source of conflicts with state bureaucracies. Despite this, traditional fire management practices have rarely been examined from a perspective of fire behavior and fire effects, which hampers dialogue on management options. In order to analyze the rationale for fire use, its practical handling, and ecological effects in high-elevation ericaceous heathlands in Ethiopia, we used three different information sources: interviews with pastoralists, field observations of fires, and analysis of vegetation age structure at the landscape level. The interviews revealed three primary reasons for burning: increasing the grazing value, controlling a toxic caterpillar, and reducing predator attacks. Informants were well aware of critical factors governing fire behavior, such as slope, wind, vertical and horizontal fuel structure, and fuel moisture. Recent burns (1-4 years since fire) were used as firebreaks to control the size of individual burns, which resulted in a mosaic of vegetation of different ages. The age structure indicated an average fire return interval of ~10 years. At these elevations (> 3500 m), the dry period is unreliable, with occasional rains. Of all observed fires, 83% were ignited during very high Fire Weather Index levels, reached during only 11% of all days of the year. Burning is illegal, but if this ban was respected, our data suggest that the Erica shrubs would grow out of reach of cattle within a few years only, creating a dense and continuous canopy. This would also create a risk of large high-intensity wildfires since the landscape is virtually devoid of natural fuel breaks. Under the present management regime, this heathland ecosystem should be quite resilient to degradation by fire due to a relatively slow fuel buildup (limiting fire intervals) and an effective regrowth of Erica shoots. Nevertheless, if burning is done during severe drought, there may be a risk of smoldering fires killing the lignotubers. Given the intimate knowledge of fire behavior and fire effects among these pastoralists, it should be possible to develop a fire management plan that can sustain the present land use and ecosystem, and be sanctioned by both authorities and the local community.

Dynamics and Resilience of Rangelands and Pastoral Peoples Around the Globe

“…TEK provides insights into the ecological dynamics of these systems (130,131) and observations of changes over time and space (132), as well as traditional systems of management adapted to the inherent variability of these systems (133). Recent studies of pastoralist TEK have also documented herder observations of climate change (46,47) and knowledge of conservation of plant populations (134) and fire management (132,135). TEK has been used to identify monitoring objectives and indicators, and pastoralists have been trained to carry out formal rangeland monitoring (131,136,137).…”

“…These include rapid loss of TEK (134,135), top-down or misguided conservation policy (132,(134)(135)(136), monitoring methods driven by Western science in isolation from other knowledge sources (131,137,138), and failure to apply TEK to development (138).…”

“…Socioeconomic, demographic, and cultural changes contribute to loss of pastoralist TEK (132), as do government policies that prevent its active use, development, and transmission by forcing mobile herders to settle (133), removing pastoralists from protected areas (134), or prohibiting traditional management practices, such as burning (132,135). Controversy lingers over appropriate use of TEK and over the power imbalances between TEK and science, calling into question whether different types of knowledge should be compared or combined (139).…”

Traditional fire-use, landscape transition, and the legacies of social theory past

“…Over the last 15 years, human ecology-centered studies of traditional fire-use have not only adopted theoretical concepts from landscape ecology, but have also incorporated geospatial analyses and other methods developed by landscape ecologists. For example, several studies combine ethnographic and ethnohistorical insights on traditional fire-use with spatially explicit environmental data (Laris 2002;Black et al 2006;Natcher et al 2007;Bird et al 2008;Laris 2011;Bird et al 2012;Johansson et al 2012). Other studies include spatial modeling simulations (Bean and Sanderson 2008;Perry et al 2012).…”

Impact of Livestock Encroachments and Tree Removal on Populations of Mountain Nyala and Menelik’s Bushbuck in Arsi Mountains National Park, Ethiopia

“…In the southeastern (Bale and Arsi) highlands of Ethiopia indiscriminate anthropogenic fire is decades old phenomenon in the heath ecosystem [23]. However, in recent decades it is found to be more intense and widespread causing severe damage to wildlife habitat and the wildlife population [7,[24][25][26]. The local livestock herders in Bale and Arsi Mountains regularly burn vast stretches of Erica to encourage germination of vascular plants, to destroy livestock pests and habitats of livestock predators, and for fuel wood extraction [24][25][26].…”