The number and intensity of unwanted wildland fires in South and Southern Africa has increased significantly during the past several years. Many of these fires have been either major or catastrophic fires which have resulted in deaths, loss of livestock, impacted negatively on the environment and burned uncontrollably at an enormous cost to the South African economy. The Fynbos Biome, which is a fire-dependent ecosystem, is particularly vulnerable to risks from unwanted wildland fire triggered by climate change and scientific research shows that this risk will increase in future. Effective co-ordinated sustained wildfire management to reduce this risk is, therefore, imperative.

In the past, wildfire management was heavily dependent on fire suppression. But factors such as changing climate patterns, an increased wildland-urban interface and greater pressure on natural resources, have become increasingly more significant. It is clear that a change in approach is essential and to achieve this, an effective, co-ordinated wildfire management strategy which earns enthusiastic support across economic, social and demographic lines must be developed. Integrated Fire Management (IFM) provides a framework upon which to build a balanced, workable, and sustainable tool that will meet the fire-related demands of ecosystems and people with minimum harm to the environment. IFM has been defined as a series of actions that include: fire awareness and prevention, risk mapping, hazard identification, prescribed burning, resource sharing and co-ordination with fire detection, fire suppression and fire damage rehabilitation also playing a crucial role.