In March 2009, massive fires swept across the mountains of the Western Cape, burning in the Stellenbosch/Somerset West area for over a month.  A large part of Vergelegen Estate was burnt and NatConCorp was contracted to conduct a post fire assessment for the Estate.  The project was relatively large in that over 2000ha of the 3000ha-farm burnt.

The first component was to geo-reference the fire line on foot and then transfer the data into ArcGIS.  With this information, we could then work out an accurate 3 dimensional surface area that had been burnt.

The second component was to update the Alien Vegetation Clearing Plan to incorporate the effect of the fire.  This was done using satellite imagery and field assessments to establish the species present, in what densities and the size classes.  This information was captured in ArcGIS and put into a costing table to revise the Alien Vegetation Clearing Plan.  A web-based monitoring programme is being created to enable the land manager to monitor the progress of alien vegetation clearing as part of this new plan.  This component of the project is still in progress. 

The third component was to create a predictive erodibility model, taking into consideration the different soil types on the farm and the areas burnt, and combining this with the slope aspect and stream power (power which water has in a stream). The resulting map highlighted areas that were most likely to erode.  This map allows the farm managers to respond timeously to potential erosion hotspots after heavy rain events, thereby minimizing any wasted effort.

The fourth component entailed the compilation of best practise guidelines for alien vegetation clearing, erosion and rehabilitation.