adminTinomuda Chakanyuka Sunday News Reporter
THE country has witnessed a significant drop in incidents of veld fires in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period last year, although more hectares of land have been burnt this year. Environmental Management Agency (EMA) spokesperson, Mr Steady Kangata told Sunday News last week that 518 fire incidents had been recorded so far this year compared to 849 incidents that were recorded in the same period last year.
Mr Kangata said although there had been a significant decrease in occurrences of fires, it was worrying that the fewer fires that had been recorded this year had razed more hectares of land compared to last year.
Last year 207 038 hectares of land were destroyed by fire in the first eight months of the year and so far 235 977 hectares have already been burnt since the beginning of this year.
Mashonaland West Province has so far recorded the highest number of veld fire occurrences followed by Mashonaland Central and Midlands provinces.
The amount of property that has been destroyed so far this season by veld fire could not be immediately established but Mr Kangata revealed that one person was killed by fire this year, a 70-year-old man from Hurungwe, Mashonaland West Province.
The EMA spokesperson attributed the decrease in veld fires to education campaigns carried out by EMA, adding that the increase in the hectares destroyed was however a sign that more needed to be done in terms of rallying communities to unite in putting out fires.
“As you might know, 99 percent of veld fires are as a result of human activity. As such most of our efforts to reduce veld fires target communities. The decrease in fire incidents shows that people are taking heed of our advice not to start fires.
“What remains worrying though is that the hectares destroyed by fire have increased from last year. That means people are not coming together to put out fires. There is still bystander behaviour in communities and as EMA that is one area we need to work on. We need to ensure that community members share responsibility when it comes to fighting veld fires,” he said.
“A 70-year-old man from Hurungwe was killed by veld fires last week and that is the only death we have recorded so far this year. It’s sad that when veld fires break out human life is also at risk. As such we need to be vigilant whenever fires break out to make sure that we don’t lose a lot of property, pasture land and worse still human life.”
The EMA spokesperson added that apart from educating communities on the importance of reducing fire incidents, the agency had also introduced a new satellite system which helps in detecting veld fires.
Mr Kangata said the system would go a long way to assist in reducing the effect of uncontrolled fires as it offers near real time detection of fires, allowing for the agency and other stakeholders to react on time.
“This system offers what we may call real time fire detection in any part of the country. What this means is that we are able to monitor the fire situation in all corners of the country and be able to detect any fire outbreaks in time before the fires spread. I believe this system will, among other strategies help us in reducing occurrences of veld fires,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Kangata also warned farmers, members of the public and companies against wantonly starting fires this time of the year as the new fire season has begun.
He said anyone wishing to start a fire should seek permission from relevant authorities as it was a legal requirement.
He warned that anyone caught starting a fire, for whatever purpose without permission from EMA, ZRP and the Forestry Commission would be liable for prosecution.
“We are now in the fire season and this refers to the period of the year which is dry and windy, up to the onset of the rain season. This period normally records more veld fires and we urge members of the public to be cautious. Anyone willing to start a fire for whatever reason should give a two-week notice. Whoever wants to start fire should give a notification of intention to burn two weeks ahead. The notice should be given to EMA, the Forestry Commission, and the police.
“Neighbours should also be notified in case the fire gets out of hand,” said Mr Kangata.
The notice should be given in terms of Section 67 (2) (a) of the Forestry Act Chapter 19:05 of 1996.
Mr Kangata also encouraged members of the public to take note of the weather conditions before starting any fires.
“One should look at the weather conditions to see if they are favourable or not before they start a fire. We do not encourage people to start fires when it is windy because such fires travel at a high speed and are difficult to control.
“If one sees that the weather conditions are not favourable they should postpone the exercise and make a fresh notice,” he said.
Since 2008 the number of hectares destroyed by veld fires has been on the rise, with 2010 recording the highest figure of 1,5 million hectares razed by fire.
However, the figures have been on a steady decline over the past years owing to various intervention strategies implemented by EMA.
Online Reporter