The Sunday Mail
Smoke from a raging fire could be seen from kilometres away as newly-resettled farmers at Upweir Farm in Zvimba battled to put down a veld fire that had been started by poachers.The villagers used every item available to battle the fierce fire which left behind a trail of destruction.Among some of the items destroyed were several house, a tobacco seed bed and household utensils worth thousands of dollars.
Mr Latwell Milanzi was left counting the costs.
“For me, it is back to square one. The seedlings that I lost were supposed to cover two hectares. What it means is that I will now have to get the seedlings on credit. Only if people could desist from setting fires,” Mr Milanzi moaned.In recent years, veld fires have become one of the biggest challenges facing the country. Veld fires have also become a major driver of land degradation and biodiversity loss.
Timber producers in the Eastern Highlands have also registered huge losses after veld fires consumed large areas of their plantations.
According to the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), so far two people have lost their lives to veld fires since the beginning of the year. And this year, 650 fire incidents have been reported, which is a 22 percent decrease from the 833 incidents that were reported during the same period last year.
A total of 255 669 hectares have so far been destroyed by veld fires, a 40 percent reduction from the 627 125 hectares that had been destroyed during this period last year.
Mr Steady Kangata, the EMA spokesperson, attributed the reduction in fire incident frequencies to the training programmes that his organisation is conducting.“We are going into the communities where we are training people on how to avoid fires. It is better to prevent fires as opposed to fighting them. We are teaching communities how to manage woodlots, consolidated gardens and water resources,” Mr Kangata said.
Communities are being trained fire-fighting methods and good veld fire management.
EMA has also roped in traditional leaders in a bid to arrest the menace that has cost the country millions of dollars’ worth of property in the past few years.
In the past, traditional leaders were the custodians of the environment and its natural resources.
Environment experts say Zimbabwe’s climatic conditions are conducive to the growth of tall grass species and deciduous trees that dry in summer, making it susceptible to veld fires.
Farmers have been urged to desist from using fire for land clearing.
Mr Wonder Chabikwa, the president of the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union (ZCFU), said farmers have the ability and capacity to bring the veld fire menace under control.
“As farmers, we know the solutions to this menace and we have already submitted a proposal to EMA. In our proposal, we highlighted that there is need to put in place what we used to call intensive conservation committees whose responsibility is to safeguard natural resources.”
“This system is effective and I wonder why it was scrapped in the first place. The committees were made up of the farmers themselves with the Natural Resources Board being the secretariat.”
“Some of the people involved in fighting veld fires are not directly affected by the fires. Farmers are the ones who suffer losses in the event of a veld fire and it is prudent to have the farmers themselves spearheading the efforts,” said Mr Chabikwa.
Mr Kangata concurred that the community must be involved in fighting veld fires.
“It is for this reason that we involve the communities in projects that benefits them. By introducing such projects as bee-keeping, the communities take an active part in conserving our natural resources,” Mr Kangata said.
In 2015, traditional leaders presided over 29 cases of veld fires, with the offenders paying fines in the form of goats or cattle, depending on the size of the land burnt.
Mr Chabikwa argued that the fines are too lenient and called upon Government to introduce stiff jail sentences.
“The sentences are not deterrent enough. In the past, those that caused veld fires received heavy sentences and the system used made sure that those that started veld fires were traced. Like I said before, the system that was in place was effective and I wonder why it was scrapped,” Mr Chabikwa said.
According to Mr Chabikwa, farmers that are growing green mealies are facing the problem of rodents, a development he said is directly related to veld fires.
“Veld fires destroys biodiversity. Snakes are killed by fires, resulting in the multiplication of rodents such as rats. This is a serious problem,” said Mr Chabikwa.
In efforts to combat veld fires, Government has produced a National Fire Strategy draft.
As the ZCFU is calling for the inclusion of farmers in spearheading efforts to fight veld fires, traditional leaders have also called upon Government to give them powers so that they become the custodians of the country’s natural resources.
The traditional leaders argue that the Forestry Act takes away such powers from them.
