Every year, following the cold winter when grass turns brown and dry, runaway wild fires are a scary reality in these flammable tinder-like landscapes. Fires are often started in nearby towns, from within community households or by the careless disposal of cigarettes. These fires can be hugely destructive in the grasslands. 

In the Mgundeni community in northern KwaZulu-Natal there have also been fires caused by thunderstorms. A recent one killed over 50 cows and severely threatened the community, affecting their safety and livelihoods.  I was incredibly saddened by this, as I know how greatly such a loss would impact the community. We needed to work together to prevent this from happening again.

With funding from Heineken and collaboration from a wide range of stakeholders – including the Mgundeni Traditional Council, Ezemvelo KZN Wildilfe, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and KZN Economic Development and Tourism – WWF has helped the community by providing equipment and fire training. Securing funds for this kind of training makes everyone sleep with peace in the advisory forum as we all want to see the Mgundeni community ever doing well in natural resource management and to know the veld and homesteads will be safe guarded.

I take great pride in knowing that we’re supporting the custodians of our water and biodiversity-rich landscapes with keeping safe during fire season. The fire training and the tools we’ve provided will help prepare them to face the negative impacts of uncontrolled fire.

Mgundeni’s traditional leader, iNkosi Mabaso has been working with WWF on various initiatives over the years. He is particularly proud of the community’s association with WWF and always eager to support our work. The community was the first to sign a biodiversity stewardship agreement a decade ago. INkosi Mabaso is very enthusiastic about how the partnership between the community and different stakeholders has grown and yielded the results. This community is just one of a few biodiversity stewardship and land reform communities who WWF works with that have recognised the vital link between their livelihoods and protection of the land on which they rely.

It gives me great satisfaction to play a part in changing people’s lives. We learn from every rural community we work with, and in turn they learn from us. That’s the most fascinating part of this work.