19 January 2008
Maputo — Bush fires ravaged four million hectares of Mozambican bush and forest in 2007, according to the Minister for Environmental Coordination, Luciano de Castro, cited in the Beira daily paper "Diario de Mocambique".
Most of these fires are started deliberately, in order to clear land for agriculture, or to smoke out animals to be hunted.
Castro said the fires cause enormous losses, and are a threat to plant and animal species that should be preserved.
He said that, in order to fight against this indiscriminate use of fire, groups are being set up inside rural communities with the task of persuading peasants to defend natural resources and to inform them of the danger of bush fires. Castro believed that one of the main causes of uncontrolled fires was lack of knowledge and interest in the benefits of preserving natural resources.
"We have to instill the idea that the resources exist to benefit our citizens", he said. He thought that the legislation determining that 20 per cent of logging and tourism fees must go to the communities was beginning to produce effects. This money showed rural communities that the resources surrounding them were worth preserving.
From the moment that the communities benefit from the exploitation of resources, he argued, "we will be able to minimize situations such as bush fires".
Environmental issues, including the consequences of uncontrolled fires, were now being included in the primary school curriculum. "This is to ensure the sustainability of tomorrow's environment, and ensure that natural resources are used and exploited rationally", said Castro.
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