Namibia: Devastating Fire in Okahandja Area
Namibia: Devastating Fire in Okahandja Area
5 September 2008
published by http://allafrica.com
Namibia — A veld fire destroyed more than 1 000 hectares of grazing in the Okahandja area this week, a senior official in the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday.
The Acting Deputy Director for Forestry Research, Vincent Louw, said the fire started near the Osona military base on Wednesday and moved into the mountains northeast of the base.
Louw said forestry officials at Okahandja put the fire out on Wednesday evening, with help from NDF members at Osona.
He said the cause of the veld fire was not yet known.
Because of the dry weather and dry winter grass, veld fires are common in Namibia at this time of year.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, forest and veld fires destroy an estimated three to seven million hectares of vegetation in Namibia each year.
