By Meshia Mambo
Local communities have been urged to work with authorities and other stakeholders to prevent veldfires as the country battles an increasing threat from climate change and human activity.
The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) says thousands of hectares of land have already been destroyed by fires with property, infrastructure and livelihoods also at risk.
Speaking at a veldfire management media briefing in Harare, EMA Environmental Education and Publicity Manager Amkela Sidange said preventing wildfires could not be left to one sector.
“If the country wants to fail in preventing wildfires or in fighting them, the duty of discouraging such incidences should not be relegated to one sector,” she said.
Ms Sidange said the agency’s mandate was to protect the country’s natural resources from degradation and pollution while ensuring environmental sustainability.
“That is where our concern is coming from, especially when it comes to the bonfires. Our concern really comes from protecting the ecosystem goods and services, because there are services and goods that we get in our ecosystems, so we are so much keen to look at how best they can be protected,” she said.
Wildfires have destroyed lodges, forestry and farming equipment as well as energy infrastructure in recent years.
“It’s coming from the energy sector; we lost a lot of energy infrastructure. So these are just some of the things that we consider, not excluding the human livelihoods as it were. It’s also our major concern,” Ms Sidange said.
EMA said it was strengthening fire monitoring and reporting to identify areas most vulnerable to veldfires and improve preparedness.
The agency uses remote sensing technology as well as reports from communities to track fire incidents.
At least 748 fire incidents were recorded between 31 July and 31 August this year affecting about 276 828 hectares of land.
The country had already recorded 627 fires and lost approximately 186 979 hectares before the official start of the fire season.
One person had also died in Masvingo as a result of wildfires before the season began.
The country’s prescribed fire season runs from 31 July to 31 October under Statutory Instrument 7 of 2007.
However, Ms Sidange said climate change was shifting the traditional fire season with fires increasingly being recorded before the official start and after its end.
In 2025, Zimbabwe recorded 794 fire incidents during the corresponding period.
The 748 incidents recorded this year represent a 5.79% decline but EMA warned that communities should remain vigilant as dry, hot and windy conditions can quickly accelerate the spread of fires.
The agency said preventing veldfires required communities, government departments, farmers and other stakeholders to work together.
