Overberg fire 2006 | farm 215 | fynbos reserve | western cape

farm 215
overberg
south africa
nature retreat & fynbos reserve

a 4-star country house on the "fynbos road" between stanford & cape agulhas - southern overberg - western cape

flora & faunafynbos & fire

On a hot and windy day in the beginning of February 2006 somewhere along the Koue rivier (Cold river), not far from Elim, some people were making a fire to cook lunch, or - as other people say - some farmer was burning his fields. Whatever it was, it was the start of the biggest fire in the Overberg in more than a century. During five long days the fire burnt an 80 km long trail from Elim all the way to the fringes of Stanford, swallowing over 40.000 hectares of farmland, natural and commercial fynbos-fields and non-natural forest. It destroyed houses, barns, tourism-infrastructure and totally changed the appearance of the Walker Bay Nature Reserve and bordering coastal stretch between De Kelders and Stanford.

The fire also paid an impressive visit to farm 215, entering the reserve from the mountains at the back. No buildings or life stock were at any time under threat, but about 400 hectares of fynbos went up in flames. Another 400 hectares of young fynbos-fields (under 5 years) were not touched at all by the fire nor was any of the indigenous forests. Most of the fynbos-fields that burnt were old to ancient and simply did what they were supposed to do every so many years : burn. Most of the wild animals, instinctively adapted to the recurring fynbos-fires, managed to reach safety in one or other manner. Tortoises were found in rock-crevices, antelopes retreated to safety in young fields which the fire would not touch and the baboons sheltered in gorges covered by fire-proof indigenous forests.

The driving-force of fynbos-vegetation is fire. Fire unlocks the new life of fynbos; stone-hard cones as well as ant- and rodent-nests release the hidden fynbos-seeds; roots and bulbs end their under-ground patience and eagerly start pulsing their way up to become plants that have not been seen for a long time (or even never before by modern man). Strong winds disperse tons of seeds out of the ancient fields all over the area. If fynbos and fire would never meet, most of the fynbos plants would not be able to pro-create and would be facing inevitable extinction.

The unreal moon-like beauty of the landscape immediately after the fire quickly came to an end. The red carpet of fire-lilies the first few days after the fire was only the prelude of a botanical explosion as can only be witnessed in one place in the world: the Western Cape, home of the Cape Floristic Region, the richest Plant Kingdom in the world. The first spring after the fire, the fields and slopes were carpeted with geophytes (bulbous plants) such as various species of watsonia, aristea, gladiolus and moraea. Over 20 different species of orchids coloured (especially) the wetlands of the reserve.

After the dominance of the geophytes all of the previously burnt land is covered by an irregular lawn of hundreds of different species, each with flowers of different color and shape. The rock-formations, still covered with lichen, have lost their nakedness again and are covered with succulents and other plants that are able to thrive in a thin layer of soil. The streams from the mountains and in the wetlands are smoldered by new riverine vegetation so that the frogs and other aquatic animals can be less fearful of the many predators preying upon them.

Influenced by the time of the fire as well as wind, temperature, fog and rain, the burnt fields will develop into fields with different features than before the fire, yet fitting perfectly in nature's master-plan. With all the human tragedy involved, the fire did not cause any destruction as far as nature was concerned. The fire was merely the bringer of new life as it has done after countless thousands upon thousands of fires in the past and will do after countless thousands upon thousands of fires in the future.
go to top

website by webinvent