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ALL landowners in the Agter Groenberg area outside Wellington are invited to attend the founding meeting of a Fire Protection Association (FPA) for the area on 30 October at 19:00 at the Kranskop Conference Centre.
"Cape Nature Conservation is under obligation to establish FPA's within the area to help prevent and manage the occurrence of fires so that they are not destructive to the environment or developed areas such as farms, vineyards or olive orchards," says Deon Rossouw, conservation manager of the Limietberg Nature Reserve.
According to the National Veld and Forest Fire Act (NVFFA) all landowners are obligated to make and maintain firebreaks around their properties.
"This does not mean that farmers will simply be allowed to bulldoze roads up the side of the mountain," explains Rossouw, "but is rather the ideal opportunity for farmers and Cape Nature Conservation to work together to identify the best places for firebreaks."
Firebreaks do not just serve as a method to stop the spread of fires, but are the ideal access points from which to fight a fire.
"What is great about FPA's is that farmers decide together where firebreaks should be placed, which is more cost-effective," explains Rossouw.
"Only one firebreak is needed around all the farms that have joined forces in the FPA, as opposed to each farmer having to make and maintain his or her own firebreaks."
Farmers in the Paarl, Wellington, Wemmershoek, Franschhoek and Worcester areas who are interested in establishing FPA's can contact Deon Rossouw on 082-494-9707 or 871-1536 (w). |