This paper describes a protocol developed to validate a regional southern Africa burned- area product derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 500 m time series data. The protocol is based upon interpretations by members of the Southern Africa Fire Network (SAFNet) of multitemporal Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM +) data to derive maps of the location and approximate date of burning. Keywords: Biomass burning in Southern Africa, ETM+ sampling rationale, Southern Africa fire network, SAFNet, SAFNet member fire activities, Validation protocol, Satellite-data-based products, Burned-area product, Remote sensing, Imaging science, Photographic technology.