Botswana loses 1.3m hectares to veldt fires

Summer brings a higher fire hazard
Summer brings a higher fire hazard

FRANCISTOWN: Botswana has lost over 1.3 million hectares of land due veldt fires since the beginning of the year, compared to only 300 hectares last year.

National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) director, Moagi Baleseng said this when speaking at a two-day national disaster risk reduction preparedness conference which kicked off here yesterday.

Baleseng said that increasing amounts of biomass in most parts of the country were fuelling the increase in the number of hectares affected by veldt fires.

Editor's Comment
Deadly weekend demands immediate vigilance

The heartbreaking reports carried elsewhere on this publication of a woman killed in Metsimotlhabe and four family members perishing near Metsimaswaana Bridge are, devastatingly, not isolated incidents. They represent the sharp, painful tip of a weekend that has seen far too many collisions, injuries, and losses on the roads. This alarming spike in fatalities is a screaming siren we cannot ignore. It compels a direct and urgent plea to every...

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