About Us
The CPFPA is a collaborative partnership between private landowners and government managers focused on reducing the risk associated with unexpected runaway fires (vegetation fires). By creating a fire safety governance and operational efficiency framework between the different landowners, where the fuel loads on their properties facilitate the rapid movement of a runaway fire, a partnership allowing quicker access to fire lines, increased collaboration between fie fighting efforts, shared resources and most importantly networking and access to information, will be developed preventing uncertainty and inefficiency as in the past.
The CPFPA encompasses the Cape Peninsula Mountain Chain that stretches from Signal Hill in the north to Cape Point in the south - a distance of some 60km, an area of +/- 31 000 ha and a minimum circumference of 150km.It is renowned for its scenic beauty and has within its boundaries three world-renowned landmarks - Table Mountain, the Cape of Good Hope and Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. A notable feature is that the CPFPA exists almost entirely surrounded by the metropolitan area of the City of Cape Town which a population of +/- 4 million people and growing. The association has a potential of 150 owners in the area of which 28 are registered members. The land area under control of the state owners amounts to 25 000 hectares or about 75% of the total area of the CPFPA. The CPFPA area is mainly a mountainous natural area being proclaimed a national, provincial and local heritage.
The informal settlement of Redhill
It is a popular recreational area used by the citizens of the city, the rest of the country and thousands of foreign tourists. It includes approximately 3 000 people in the informal settlement of Redhill, situated within the CPFPA. Masiphumelele and Imi-zamu Yethu border’s on the CPFPA in the Noordhoek and Hout Bay area. About 2 000 people live on farms or other rural properties. The City of Cape Town Integrated Development Plan identifies vegetation fires as an environmental, social and economic risk in the municipality. The CPFPA encompasses most of the Cape Peninsula Mountain Chain, situated in the Western Cape Province of South Africa (part of the Cape Floristic Region), and is home to one of the highest concentrations of plant species in any temperate ecosystem in the world and is home to +/- 2 285 plant species. The dominant vegetation is both fire-prone and fire-dependent. The Peninsula has a mosaic of urban and natural areas, leading to problems of fire management of areas with a substantial urban fringe. In addition, the area is badly invaded by invasive alien plants, which both threaten the remarkable biodiversity and increase biomass and fire intensity. The need for a systematic plan and co governance system to deal with fire on the Peninsula is a clear priority.
Vegetation fires occur mostly during summer in the Cape region, in the dry season. The highest fire danger period is during the months of January and February when high temperatures and strong winds create an ideal climate for vegetation fires. The unexpected and damaging nature of vegetation fires has caused significant damage to property, vegetation (Fynbos) and recreational areas, where positioned in close proximity in vegetation with high fuel loads. The social assets exposed to high risk of loss from wildfires are the informal settlements, farmsteads and recreational resorts. The urban interface also poses huge problems as developments have encroached into the natural areas. Economic assets exposed to extreme or high risk of loss are plantation forests, farms and smallholdings, the power lines and Telkom lines that run through the area and the recreational areas. Environmental assets exposed to extreme or high risk of loss are the water catchments, the varied animal life, fire vulnerable protected species, wetlands and nature reserves. These risks arise mainly from the fires that arise in dry invasive alien plants, from the negligent behaviour of motorists and hikers using the numerous roadways and footpaths during the summer season, as well as fires that are ignited and spread from within the informal settlements.
The CPFPA aims to contribute to community development by striving to reduce human injury resulting from unexpected and uncontrolled vegetation fires and by progressively reducing impacts on property and environmental values while promoting the useful role of vegetation fires. This will be done my increasing collaboration between landowners with high fuel loads and by being the communication voice for Fire Safety and Security on the Cape Peninsula. The CPFPA aims to have its Veld (Vegetation) fire Management Strategy deployed throughout its area during this first five-year period.
Although the CPFPA’s mandate is restricted to the Cape Peninsula, it’s focus will also include communicating outside as the mandated boundary, the source of most visitors to the natural areas of the Cape Peninsula natural areas and the source of all untimely fires. Only through the vigilance and participation of the people of Cape Town will the Cape Peninsula be safe from fires.
We welcome you to explore, contact us, participate, share and learn so that we may improve our ability to manage fire. Please see our Downloads page to view all the work we have done to date and keep monitoring our Home page on the latest developments in managing fire in the Cape Peninsula.
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