BY VANESSA GONYE ENVIRONMENT and Tourism minister Mangaliso Ndlovu yesterday said eight people died last year due to veld fires, doubling the previous year’s figure of four deaths.
Speaking during the launch of the fire week in Harare yesterday, Ndlovu said in 2021 a total of 3 948 fire incidents were recorded during the dry season, which destroyed 1 033 722 hectares of forests and grasslands compared to 1 178 fire incidents recorded in 2020, destroying 1 100 000 hectares.
“Veld fires are an environmental challenge and annually, an average of a million hectares of forest and grass is lost as a result. We need to make veld fires a national disaster considering their destructive nature,” Ndlovu said.
#New #TalkingPaper🔴'𝟖 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐬' –@nqo_nn, Environment and Tourism minister pic.twitter.com/qBmgvs8GJY
— NewsDay Zimbabwe (@NewsDayZimbabwe) May 17, 2022
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“We need to create a self-sufficient and food surplus economy premised on the fact that a protected environment creates an enabling environment for thriving crop and livestock production sectors.”
This year’s fire week theme is Veld Fires, a Food Security Threat, Protect the Harvest.