FIRE Monitoring and Managementin Zimbabwe

Ntandokamlimu Nondo

Environmental Management AgencyZimbabwe

09-11 OCTOBER 2012 GABORONE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE

Fires in Zimbabwe

Veld fires threaten both forests and woodlands in most ecosystems

This results in loss of both flora, fauna, human lives and property e.g., in Zimbabwe In 2011 5 lives were lost, 713 770 hectares of

land was destroyed and infrastructure worth US$227 214 was lost

In 2012 as of September a total of 12 lives and over a 1 000 000 hectares have been lost to fires

Fire Trends 2001 to 2011

Fire and Land Use in 2011

Fire Monitoring

• Fire monitoring is based on both remote sensing and ground data.

• The fire data is obtained from the AMESD fire station, while satellite images are downloaded from the internet.

• Daily fire alerts are generated from the fire station and sent out to various stakeholders.

• Weekly fire reports use the AMESD fire station data for fire incidences reporting and these are compared to ground collected data.

Fire Communication Strategy

Fire Updates from Fire Station

AFIS Active Fires For the 3rd Of August 2012

Tollfree Line08080028SMS0772159457

Telephone305543

Emailfirenews@ema.co.zw

Fire Reports

Daily Active Fire Updates

firenews@ema.co.zw

Marondera Active Fires

Daily Active Fire Updates

2x Fire Danger1.Canadian FWI2.Low Veldt

Weekly Fire ReportsValidation of burnt Area

MODIS image

AFIS view of Active fires October

Fire Risk Modelling

• Fire risk modelling for the country is done using vegetation condition measured using NDVI and previous season fire occurrences.

• Decadal ndvi data is received at the fire station.

• The fire risk identifies the areas at risk to fires.

Zimbabwe Fire Risk Model

• Various initiatives are done in fire prone areas to minimise fire risks.• A total of 13 fireguard demonstration projects have

been done throughout the country.• These have a cumulative length 160.5 km• The fireguard project was replicated by a total of 1124

families.• These projects have helped in protecting

communities from fire and reducing the hectarage lost to fires

Fireguard Demonstration Projects

Fireguard Demonstration Projects

Before

9m

AfterFireguard demonstration at Mangwe district in Matebeleland South

Awareness Raising

Road Shows

National Fire Weeks

• Fire incidences and distance from road network study was done in 2011.

• A positive correlation of 0.82 between 0 to 2 km in Mashonaland west.

• Data from fire station has also been availed to university students for their studies

Research Studies

Future Plans

• Provide daily fire updates on the EMA websitewww.ema.co.zw during the fire season.• Connecting the fire station to all the provinces.• Automated updates by email (

firenews@ema.co.zw) and sms.• Equipping fire fighting teams with fighting tools.• Help towards meeting these goals will be most

welcome.

Community fire fighting teams training in Zimbabwe:Gutu District

The END

Thank You.