Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI), announces the publication of the scientific paper Savanna fire management can generate enough carbon revenue to help rest
Scientific American
How Starting Brush Fires Could Save Africa’s Disappearing Lions
Strategic fire management could cut emissions and earn tradable carbon credits, generating funds to save the big cats and benefit Indigenous people
Advertisement
In 2012 a villager walking through the forest in Mozambique’s Niassa Reserve came across a young male lion caught in a poacher’s snare. The lion lay on the ground, a noose of thick wire squeezing its lower torso. Conservation workers later freed the animal, but most lions are not so lucky. “Poaching has been a major issue over the years,” says Natasha Ribeiro, who has studied illegal hunting in Niassa Reserve and is a forest ecologist at Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique.
Prescribed burning in dry ecosystems to reduce emissions Fighting fire with fire (to restore ecosystem health) Related stories
Watching tongues of flame spread through dry grass or spiral up trees often evokes particular emotions: fear; panic and grief might be some of the most prominent.
But fire is not always a bad thing: in many of the world’s dry ecosystems, a certain level of burning is healthy – and in some cases, necessary. Numerous species are adapted to fire, and many cannot cope without it: eucalyptus trees, for example, will not release their seeds without a burn. What is more, when fires are ignited early in the dry season to burn off fuel loads while they are at manageable levels, it can reduce the likelihood of larger, more intense and out-of-control burns happening later in the season.