Staff Reporter

MASVINGO Province recorded over 15 000 hectares burnt by veld fires during this year’s fire season period, a decrease compared to last year’s 27 000 hectares.

Veld fires are bush fires that have the potential to spread out of control and they are mostly a result of neglect, including reckless disposal of lit cigarette stub, lighting fires by road sides, arson and improper disposal of household waste, smoking out of bees for honey harvesting, hunting and land clearing.

According to the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), 15,332.45 hectares had been burnt by October with Gutu District experiencing the most damage – 6 477.1 hectares and Zaka District the least 142.73 hectares

Chiredzi district recorded 2 696.74 ha, Mwenezi had 651.64ha, Chivi 557.07, Bikita 283.45 ha and Masvingo recorded 4 523.72 ha.

EMA Masvingo provincial environmental education and publicity officer, Munyaradzi Mtisi, said in a bid to reduce the veld fire incidences the agency had put up anti-fire village model.

The model is set to equip farmers from different districts and villages on how best they can control fires in their areas.

“We have established an anti-fire model village in Masvingo District. The anti-fire model village is a village which is fully equipped to control veld fires and prevent hectarage scale destruction. We established this model so that farmers are able to go and set up such models in their areas,” he said.

“We also trained fire-fighting teams across all the district so that all villages get a fire-fighting team. We have been working with various stakeholders such as the police, the District Development Co-ordinators and local authorities to make sure all fire incidences are reported and investigated.”

Mtisi said farmers were quite responsive to the calls they were making on the need to construct fire guards before the onset of the fire season.

New Ziana