ABSTRACT
After a hard morning’s horse-ride from the valleys of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa far below, the field rangers of the Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Park, a World Heritage site, emerge on the high plateau of the Drakensberg escarpment and head for the headquarters of Sehlabathebe National Park, the Kingdom of Lesotho’s only national park. On the way up through the bands of sandstone and the towering basalt cliffs that are evidence of the ancient Gondwana landscape, they have noted the recovery of the grasslands following the spring fire-management season, the status of the alien plant-clearing operations and the condition of the footpaths and bridle paths used by hikers and travellers between the two countries. The fire-management season is always a challenge in this environment dominated by fire-prone grasslands and high winds and this year has been no different, although the firebreaks put in earlier in the year allowed the management teams from both authorities to work together to counter a number of fire incidents caused by cattle-herders wanting to promote early growth and careless hikers who had not anticipated the danger in making open campfires in this environment.
