The recent fire regimes of Luengue-Luiana and Mavinga national parks, Angola

Abstract

The adjoining Luengue-Luiana and Mavinga national parks in southeastern Angola are two of the largest though least actively managed protected areas in Africa. The parks are home to a diversity of wildlife and are managed as a single unit. The area is characterised as a fire-dependent savanna, where fires may be naturally ignited (such as by lightning), but where the fires each year are frequently set by people. As a result of the lack of resource investment, uncontrolled fires dominate the region, potentially negatively affecting biodiversity. The past fire regimes (2001–2021) of the two parks were investigated with use of the MODIS and VIIRS remote-sensing instrument. Extremely short fire return intervals dominated the landscape, with almost half (47.8%) of the area experiencing a subsequent fire within a year of the previous fire, and an additional 30% of the area burning within two years after a preceding fire. Only 2.4% of the landscape was shown to remain fire-free for a period of ten years or more. Overall, the fire intensities were highest from August to October, with the largest areas burnt between August and September. Fire frequency, seasonality and intensity were influenced by the land-cover type, and a comparison of the different satellite products was made. This information is the first of its kind for the region and is intended to provide a basis from which fire management activities can be coordinated.