Bushfires threaten Malawi’s environment

Bushfires are destroying thousands of hectares of vegetation in the country every year, experts have said.

According to Director of Environment in the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Management, Dr. Aloysius Kamperewera, over 400 million acres of land worldwide are left bare annually due to wildfires.

Bushfires are one of natural disasters along with cyclones, earthquakes and volcanoes. Experts say they can generate temperatures of up to 900 degrees Celsius, damaging grasslands, forests and homes.

But evidence shows that worldwide, only 26 percent of bushfires are from natural causes, while 74 percent are as a result of human activity. Charcoal makers, mice hunters and careless smokers cause most of the bushfires.

Kamperewera said bushfires mainly occur during the dry season between the months of May and October.

While there are no figures on forests that are burnt annually in the country, Kamperewera says the damage was enormous.

“There have been reports of fires in Vipya Plantation started by angry workers, where over 600 hectares of forest were destroyed, and other forest reserves, which is sad,” he said.

Lilongwe City Council (LCC) spokesperson Tamara Chafunya, said the city’s by-laws stipulate that anyone found starting bush fires is liable to prosecution.

“The council, through its Directorate of Parks and Environment, carries out patrol operations and when there are bushfires we deploy patrol team to curb the situation,” Chafunya said.

However, Kamperewera said deploying patrol teams was not enough to curb bushfires.

“What the country needs are laws that will help control bush fires. Currently, the country does not have proper resource allocation and leadership on bushfire issues,” he said.

Kamperewera added that the country only had ‘incidental legislation’ on bushfires which, he said, resulted in confusion.

“There are some policies where one would expect to find something about fires such as the National Forestry Policy, Wildlife Act, National Environment Policy 2004, National Land Resources Management Policy 2000 and Irrigation Act 2001, but none of these comprehensively addresses issue of controlling bush fires.

“Most people in the country do not value natural resources and as such, they do not see the burning of bushes as a bad practice,” he said.

The expert warned that bushfires would become a bigger problem if strict measures are not adopted to control them.

In a bid to control bushfires in the country, stakeholders from different government departments met in June to tackle the problem which was described as a sleeping giant about to wake up and destroy the country.