Photo: Hon M.N Ndhlovu (MP) commissioning firefighting equipment procured through the Zambezi Valley Biodiversity Project under the Global Environment Fund (GEF) 6 Facility
The Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Hon M.N Ndhlovu (MP) says his Ministry is working on amending the currently recognized dates of the fire season in Zimbabwe.
In a speech to launch the National Fire Awareness Week, Minister Ndhlovu said, due to climate change and variability in seasons and consultation with the Meteorological Services Department and the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement, they have deemed it necessary, out of the abundance of caution that the 2022 fire season should start from the 31st of July to the 30th of November 2022. Statutory Instrument, 7 of 2007 on Environment Impact Assessment and Ecosystems Protection Regulations currently defines the 31st of July to 31st of October as the period where people are prohibited from using fire outside residential and commercial properties.
Graphic image credit: Environmental Management Agency of Zimbabwe (EMA)
Zimbabwe has over the recent years, witnessed veld fire occurrences outside the fire season stipulated by Statutory Instrument 7 of 2007 on Environmental Impact Assessment and Ecosystems Protection Regulations which is from the 31st of July to the 31st of October. In 2021, a total of 3948 Veld fire incidents were recorded destroying 1 033 722 hectares of forest and grassland, compared to 1178 incidents in 2020 with 1100 000 hectares of forest land destroyed. Therefore, a relevant amendment to the statutory instrument will be made to address the current reality of a shift in seasons.
The theme for 2022 is ‘Veld fire, a Food Security Threat – Protect the Harvest’. According to the Zimbabwean environmental calendar, the send week of May each year is the National Veld Fire Awareness Week. It is set aside for the launch of the dissemination of information on the prevention of wildfires and the protection of ecosystems from veld fire.
