Veld fires destroy 1 mil hectares
Veld fires destroy 1 mil hectares
30 September 2012
published by www.zbc.co.zw
Zimbabwe –– More than a million hectares of land have been ravaged by veld fires countrywide since the beginning of the fire season on the 31st of July.
According to information from the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), more than a million hectares of land have been destroyed by veld fires while 345 tickets have been issued to fire offenders since the beginning of the fire season.
During the same period last year, only 700 000 hectares of land had been destroyed by fire while only 240 tickets had been issued.
This year, the number of fire outbreaks that have been recorded has increased from 900 to about 1400.
The statistics gathered by EMA show that the number of veld fires recorded this year has gone up despite frantic efforts to educate communities on the need to conserve and appreciate the environment.
Last year, traditional leaders handled 16 cases of veld fires but the number has this year increased to 23 cases.
88 dockets have also been opened at various police stations dotted across the country.
Although vast tracks of land have been ravaged by fire since the beginning of the season, what remains worrisome is that no solution to curb this environmental cancer is in sight.
