To the untrained eye, fire feels destructive, almost cruel. Yet here, at Londolozi and across much of Africa’s wilderness, fire is not just a part of the story of the bush – it is the story.
Soon, the first rains of Summer will fall softly, soaking into ash-blackened soil. Just months before, the same ground was a landscape of smoke and flame, the air heavy with the scent of charred grass.
Fire- Friend and Foe?
Bushveld fires come in two main forms: natural and managed. Natural fires are often sparked by lightning storms that roll across the savanna before the rains have broken. Managed burns are carefully timed and lit by conservation teams, aimed at mimicking those natural events while reducing fuel loads and preventing more severe, uncontrolled blazes.
At Londolozi, rainfall is highly seasonal. Months of dry winter pass with barely a drop, followed by the summer downpours that transform the landscape into a lush green paradise. It is during the cool, dry winter that our habitat and land care management teams implement strategic, well-thought-through burns. Fire can be carefully managed, and the land left clear and ready. Then, when the first summer rains arrive, the stage is perfectly set for explosive regrowth.
A pair of squirrels foraging for food on the ground.
Why Fire is Necessary
Without fire, many grasslands would stagnate. Old stems accumulate, creating a dense, unpalatable layer of moribund vegetation. Nutrients become locked up in this lifeless material, and the vitality of the veld begins to decline. Fire acts as a rejuvenator: consuming the moribund grass, recycling its nutrients into the soil, and clearing space for sunlight and rain to reach the ground. Within days, the ash bed becomes the seedbed for a flush of fresh, protein-rich growth – critical for both grazers and the predators that follow them.
This leopard tortoise is enjoying the new green shoots starting to rise.
Grasslands Reborn
Herbivores are the first to capitalise. Impalas gather in numbers, cropping at tender shoots rich in protein. Zebra and wildebeest follow, often seen on recently burnt patches where the growth is sweetest. These grazing lawns are vital – they attract prey species into open spaces, and in turn, predators follow. For lions, leopards, and cheetahs, burns create hunting opportunities in clear terrain where their quarry has fewer places to hide.
Not all animals benefit immediately. Browsers, like giraffes and kudu, may temporarily move into unburnt thickets where leafy forage remains. Yet even for them, the cycle turns; within months, many shrubs sprout vigorous new growth stimulated by fire’s pruning touch.
Grass growth of this nature (pictured above) is only possible through careful consideration within our habitat and land-care management team, combined with meaningful summer rains that aid the newly burnt shoots.
The Patchwork of Habitat
Conservation teams use controlled burns strategically to maintain a mosaic of habitats. Leaving some areas unburnt ensures refuges for insects, reptiles, and small mammals that might otherwise be displaced. Burning in blocks of varying size and frequency creates diversity – tall grasses here, short grasses there – supporting everything from ground-nesting birds to large grazers.
It is a delicate balance. Too frequent fire can exhaust root reserves and simplify ecosystems. Too infrequent, and grass becomes rank, less palatable, and prone to large, intense fires that scorch rather than stimulate.
Fireside Conclusions
As the evening draws in at Londolozi, we often gather around the crackle of a fire, its warmth and light anchoring us in the night. Watching the flames, it is hard not to draw a parallel to the great fires that sweep through the bushveld. Both hold within them a paradox – destruction and creation, ending and beginning. Around the campfire, with the stars above and the wild sounds carried on the breeze, one is reminded that fire is not merely an element of survival here, but a force of renewal. It shapes the land, nourishes the animals, and ensures that the cycle of life continues to turn, season after season.
Nic: During my first trip to Londolozi in October 2001, a ‘controlled burn’ was seen along the horizon. Our guide explained the importance of the controlled burn to those of us ‘urban’ folks who had never seen such. Me, thinking the fire was far closer to Londolozi than it was, slept with my passport under my pillow should we need to run! It was NOT needed.
Hi Nic, the fires rejuvenate the grass roots again after it is burnt. It is not a pretty site to see, but must be done to get new fresh grass roots growing for the herbivores. Luckily your fires are controlled and done every year. This past weekend we had a fire on the reserve were I live, it is terrible and the wind also played a big part of spreading the fire. Luckily they could stop it and that not to much damage was done.
Great blog on the different aspects of fire and its management, Nic. It‘s fascinating how you manage these controlled fires.