Laris also notes that people in West Africa overwhelmingly set early dry season (EDS) fires. This is true for Burkina Faso, Senegal, Benin, Togo, Ghana, which all have an early burning pattern (See Table 1). However, this is not the case for Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau, which have most emissions in the late dry season (LDS) (see Table 1). Also, if we sum the total EDS and LDS emissions for West African Countries, then 45% of emissions occur in the EDS and 55% in the late dry season (see Table 1). The total West African contribution is around 8% of the total African savanna emissions—a relatively small contributor.
We haven’t suggested that the early burning practise would work for all of West Africa, but the evidence suggests that it would work for Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau (see Table 1). We agree, many of the West African countries have significant EDS burning patterns like Burkina Faso, Senegal, Benin, Togo and Ghana and would not benefit from the approach. However, for those countries with significant EDS burning that still have significant LDS emissions as well, such as Mali and Côte d’Ivoire, there may be some opportunity for further emissions reductions through improved fire management practices as presented in our paper3.
Laris1 also points out that the same EDS regime proposed is one that was developed by indigenous people and that it has been applied by Africans for centuries. The same is true for Australia, but colonial occupation altered that, as it has in some areas of Africa. A new incentive in the form of carbon payments for early burning in Australia has empowered local indigenous people to reconnect to their traditional lands and fulfil their cultural obligations and a diversity burning practices14.
Source: Ecology - nature.com
