Veld fires ravage Erongo communal land pastures
Veld fires ravage Erongo communal land pastures
14 September 2011
published by www.informante.web.na
Namibia — Erongo Region communal farmers have been urged to take necessary precautions to avoid the further spread of veld fires that have destroyed grazing pastures and the ecosystem in the past few weeks.
The warning comes from concerned farmers, traditional leaders and agricultural officers in the Daures and Spitzkoppe region, where veld fires were reported since last month. The leaders, mostly making use of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation call-in radio programs, say that veld fires had virtually erased grazing areas, leaving poor communal farmers with no pastures for their animals.
The announcement fell short of the cause of the inferno, but hinted that criminal acts cannot be ruled out. Some of the fires we know are caused by herders who threw away cigarettes or tobacco buds, while blazes that started close to the main roads are likely caused by passing cars whose drivers do the same.
There is nothing that we can do than pleading with those who cause the fire to stop such behavior and take the others that are using the area into consideration, mostly the poor animals, the radio broadcast announced.
This community reporter visited some of the roadside fires south of Karibib which were still in full blaze without any effort being made to extinguish it. Looking at the inferno from far, it resembled a huge ball of fire that looks like it was far from over.
