effects of veld fires on economy: southern eye

THE Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has bemoaned the increase in loss of lives and destruction of infrastructure and property by veld fires this year saying this negatively affected the growth of the economy.
NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
OWN CORRESPONDENT
Speaking at a Veld Fire Management Strategies gathering at Woodlands Farm in Matetsi Ward 1 in Hwange district, EMA education officer Mildred Matunga said veld fires affected economic growth by destroying property, infrastructure and human lives.
“According to the 2014 fire statistics 1,6 million hectares were destroyed by veld fires nationwide compared to 1 179 274ha in 2013. Four people perished due to uncontrolled fires in 2013 compared to 12 in 2014.
“Matabeleland North Province lost 125 952,02ha in the 2013 fire season compared to 356 430ha in 2014,” Matunga said.
She said Hwange district was chosen as one of the priority areas in constructing fire guards and educating people about veld fires as it was the most fire prone district in the province.
“Hwange district continues to be the most prone district in the province from 2011 to date with 144 263ha destroyed by fires in the 2014.
“This is due to poaching, land clearing, charcoal making activities, bee smoking and careless throwing of lit cigarette stubs.
“However, there has been a general reduction in veld fire incidences, especially in Matetsi Ward 1, with only two incidences this year due to a positive response by the community during veld fire awareness programmes and clearing of the land,” she said.
Ward 1 councilor Ellias Muzamba thanked EMA and villagers for working together in curbing veld fires this year.
“The community benefits from hunting quotas and proceeds are kept in the custody of the Matetsi Environment Subcommittee.
“The funds are then used for the development of vital infrastructure, such as schools, hunting safari camps and clinics, hence there is an intrinsic motivation for the community to preserve natural resources and protect their area from veld fires,” Muzamba said.
“Wild animals used to cross to Botswana due to veld fires and most of them died trying to escape, but with the help of EMA, our hunting quota yielded good results and we have managed to buy a new tractor with the money, for clearing land in constructing fireguards.
“Moreover, our children did not have schools, but we have built four primary and one secondary school and we are planning to extend our hunting camps,” he said.
Ward 1 has 18 farms comprising 26 villages and 1 096 homesteads.

effects of fires: case study

ChirumanzuEMA/www.here.com/.../zibagwe-rural-district-council-61 deaths
Over a five year period, 61 people died in fires. In one horrific incident, a 13-year-old herd boy was trapped in a veld fire with his cattle at Debshen farm and died trying to escape. That same fire spread into a nearby conservancy reducing 35 elephants and six houses to ashes.
This season has been different in Zibagwe. The district has achieved a record low in the number of major fires, and those that did break out were effectively contained by trained villagers.
Gold panners
Headman Solomon Shumba of Ward 30 Woodrich community, who is the leader of the four groups of fire reaction teams, said the villagers had been taught to prevent fire outbreaks as well as to fight fires. Those who received the training spread the word to others and today everyone in the village is a friend of the environment. “The zeal to protect the environment has been amazing. For example, if a fire incident was to start right now, within a couple of minutes, the area would be thronged by villagers ready to fight the blaze and avert disaster,” said Shumba.
Raphael Gondo, 73, a member of one of the fire-fighting teams, explained that veld fires were largely due to the activities of gold panners - who usually prefer clearing land using fire. Criminals such as cattle rustlers and rapists often do the same in order to easily identify targets. “Fire guards have proved to be particularly useful. They have prevented fires from spreading from one farm or forest area to another. This has been our strength. Team work has also helped especially in alerting each other of the activities of illegal gold panners and other criminals who purposely start fires,” explained Gondo.
While Zibagwe has had a clean record on fire cases, it has not been the same elsewhere.
According to EMA’s provincial planning and monitoring officer, William Berekwa, who is also credited for initiating training of villagers in Zibagwe, almost 100,000 hectares of land have been burned in other areas since July. Only last month, three members of the same family died in Chiodza village, Chirumanzu after they were trapped in a veld fire. The fourth one was severely injured and is still critically ill in Gweru General Hospital. In the Lalapansi district, property worth $11,400 was also lost at one farm after a fire destroyed valuable assets including a tractor and four tonnes of stocked maize.
“We are really grateful and encouraged by the achievement of the people of Zibagwe in preventing and combating fires. They have shown that veld fires can really be stopped in this country. We are planning to honour them with an award and we hope that other districts will follow their example,” Berekwa said.

how to deal with veld fires

Preventing fires on a farm

• Remove branches that could cause power line short circuits and check electrical installations regularly.
• Restrict the use of farm machinery on days when the fire danger is high.
• Take great care when using welding, cutting and grinding equipment.
• Establish firebreaks between your land and roads or railways.
• Adopt safety standards for smoking, burning rubbish and disposal of hot ash.
• Make sure all fires are extinguished properly before leaving – never leave a fire unattended.
• Have your own well-maintained fire fighting equipment on a farm.
• Train your staff in firefighting techniques.

Stages of a veldfire

• Embers and smoke.
• Fire front.
• Final stage.

What you should do when veldfire approaches

• Make decisions early – carry out the planned response, that is, to evacuate or to stay?
• Dress in protective clothing.
• Move livestock to safer locations.
• Listen to radio for news.
• Wet garden and house especially on the side of the approaching fire.
• Plug gutters and fill them with water
• Fill baths, buckets and dust bins with water in case the water supply fails and have mops handy.
• Seal any gaps between doors and floor using wet towels or similar items.
• Close up the house and screen off the windows.
• If you decide to stay, go indoors when the fire arrives and remain there until the fire front has passed.
• Take fire hoses and other fire fighting equipment indoors with you.
• Patrol the house interior including checking the roof cavity and extinguish any small fires immediately.
• Remain vigilant after the fire front has passed.

effects of weather on veld fires

Effect of weather

Lightning-sparked wildfires are frequent occurrences during the dry summer season in Nevada.

A wildfire in Venezuela during a drought

Heat waves, droughts, cyclical climate changes such as El Niño, and regional weather patterns such as high-pressure ridges can increase the risk and alter the behavior of wildfires dramatically. Years of precipitation followed by warm periods can encourage more widespread fires and longer fire seasons. Since the mid-1980s, earlier snowmelt and associated warming has also been associated with an increase in length and severity of the wildfire season in the Western United States.^] However, one individual element does not always cause an increase in wildfire activity. For example, wildfires will not occur during a drought unless accompanied by other factors, such as lightning (ignition source) and strong winds (mechanism for rapid spread).

Intensity also increases during daytime hours. Burn rates of smoldering logs are up to five times greater during the day due to lower humidity, increased temperatures, and increased wind speeds. Sunlight warms the ground during the day which creates air currents that travel uphill. At night the land cools, creating air currents that travel downhill. Wildfires are fanned by these winds and often follow the air currents over hills and through valleys. Fires in Europe occur frequently during the hours of 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. Wildfire suppression operations in the United States revolve around a 24-hour fire day that begins at 10:00 a.m. due to the predictable increase in intensity resulting from the daytime warmth.^[

social impact of veld fires

Acute impacts such as trauma are common among victims who would have secured short-term loans to finance their farm operations. One farmer in Mashonaland West Province lost an entire seed maize crop to veld fires after financing the crop using a $50 000.00 loan from the bank. The farmer did not have insurance against fires. The farmer has not been able to get back into crop production and is still living in debt as the loan has not been paid two years down the line.

At household level, loss of shelter through veld fires has often left families traumatized. People exposed to forest fires may experience grief. Property loss, such as the destruction of a home or damage to personal goods, can be a source of grief. Lacking shelter, these families often sleep in the open with no food supplies and proper water and sanitation facilities and this may result in stress. Feelings of helplessness may arise among people whose lives and property are threatened by veld fires (Machilis 2002). In most African cultures, poor homeless people are often stigmatized, and this can indirectly result in negative social effects and psychosocial wellbeing. For example, loss of livelihoods sources may result in divorces, and complete disintegration of the family unit.

For resource-poor and vulnerable smallholder farmers, loss of assets, housing and crop harvest further exacerbate their already low food and income security, which may usher them deep into a poverty cycle. In addition, resource-poor farmers would lose their other source of food when the forests are destroyed by veld fires. Most of the rural population depends on both non-forest and forest products derived from forest and woodlands and when they are destroyed by fires the economic cost of these fires is substantial.

Exposure to forest fires impacts psychosocial wellbeing in a variety of ways (Evans & Kantrowitz 2002; Fowler 2003) ranging from temporary frustration, to temporary or permanent reduction of health-related quality of life (HRQL), to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) feeling jumpy, avoiding reminders of the fire, nightmares, dreams, and disturbing memories (Maida 1989). However, there are no detailed studies that have evaluated both the social and psychosocial impacts of veld fires on people in the affected areas of Zimbabwe and this calls for further research.

Social impacts of fires

Acute impacts such as trauma are common among victims who would have secured short-term loans to finance their farm operations. One farmer in Mashonaland West Province lost an entire seed maize crop to veld fires after financing the crop using a $50 000.00 loan from the bank. The farmer did not have insurance against fires. The farmer has not been able to get back into crop production and is still living in debt as the loan has not been paid two years down the line.

At household level, loss of shelter through veld fires has often left families traumatized. People exposed to forest fires may experience grief. Property loss, such as the destruction of a home or damage to personal goods, can be a source of grief. Lacking shelter, these families often sleep in the open with no food supplies and proper water and sanitation facilities and this may result in stress. Feelings of helplessness may arise among people whose lives and property are threatened by veld fires (Machilis 2002). In most African cultures, poor homeless people are often stigmatized, and this can indirectly result in negative social effects and psychosocial wellbeing. For example, loss of livelihoods sources may result in divorces, and complete disintegration of the family unit.

For resource-poor and vulnerable smallholder farmers, loss of assets, housing and crop harvest further exacerbate their already low food and income security, which may usher them deep into a poverty cycle. In addition, resource-poor farmers would lose their other source of food when the forests are destroyed by veld fires. Most of the rural population depends on both non-forest and forest products derived from forest and woodlands and when they are destroyed by fires the economic cost of these fires is substantial.

Exposure to forest fires impacts psychosocial wellbeing in a variety of ways (Evans & Kantrowitz 2002; Fowler 2003) ranging from temporary frustration, to temporary or permanent reduction of health-related quality of life (HRQL), to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) feeling jumpy, avoiding reminders of the fire, nightmares, dreams, and disturbing memories (Maida 1989). However, there are no detailed studies that have evaluated both the social and psychosocial impacts of veld fires on people in the affected areas of Zimbabwe and this calls for further research.

Lungile Tshuma Sunday News Correspondent

HWANGE District in Matabeleland North Province has continued to be the most fire prone district in the province since 2011 with statistics revealing that 144 263 hactures of land were destroyed by veld fires this year up from 83 462 ha last year.The revelations were made by Environmental Management Agency (EMA) Matabeleland North Province environmental education officer, Mrs Mildred Matunga, in Hwange last week on Thursday.

Statistics further show that Hwange District has not been consistent in reducing cases of veld fires. In 2009, 62 508 ha were burnt, with 34 418 being burnt in 2010, 58 923 ha of land were lost to veld fires in 2011, in 2012 155 228 ha were burnt and decreased to 83 463 ha in 2013 before rising to 144 262 ha in 2014.

“Hwange District is still leading in the number of veld fire cases in the province. There are no casualties that were recorded in the province in 2013, however, a life was lost in Bubi District in 2014,” she said.

“The agency (EMA) was instrumental in the initial implementation of the fire management project as it assisted with $1 200 to kick-start the project which has since been replicated in all the farms in Ward One and other wards in the district.

“The fireguard construction project will serve as model for the province at large as it has already started realising benefits associated with sustainable veld fire management.”

EMA has introduced fire management projects which are meant to involve the community in veld fire management in line with the country’s endeavour to reduce veld fire incidences.

Mrs Matunga said the establishment of fireguard construction projects in various districts had been necessitated by the fact that a number of veld fires in the country have been attributed to sheer failure by communities to put in place appropriate fire suppression measures around their properties.

Mrs Matunga encouraged communities to put in place fire fighting teams to spearhead fire awareness meetings at village level and start fireguard construction around farm boundaries.

As part of EMA’s educational programmes, the organisation has conducted fire awareness meetings, fireguard meetings, fireguard construction demonstrations, training of fire fighting teams, training of traditional leaders, councillors and environmental sub-committees on veld fires and provided firefighting  equipment which include three high pressure fire knapsack sprays and rakes.

Mrs Matunga also revealed that despite a decrease in veld fires as a result of educational campaigns, EMA has also witnessed an improvement of fireguard construction and fire fighting skills by the community, replication of the fireguard concept as all the farms in the country and also there is an increased awareness on law enforcement as locals are now able to report offenders to law enforcement agencies.