Namibia deploys army to fight fire in one of Africa’s largest reserves

The occurrence has burned done 1 3rd of Etosha National Park, location to the endangered achromatic rhinoceros.

Namibia has deployed much than 500 soldiers to assistance combat a occurrence that has burned done a 3rd of the immense Etosha National Park, 1 of Africa’s largest wildlife reserves, Prime Minister Tjitunga Ngurare Manongo said successful a societal media post.

Manongo said, starting Sunday, the troops would assistance firefighters, police, and volunteers who are already warring the “raging fire”.

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The parkland successful the northbound of the mostly godforsaken federation is location to 114 taxon of mammals, including the critically endangered black rhinoceros, and is simply a large tourer attraction.

The occurrence started connected September 22 and dispersed rapidly due to the fact that of beardown winds and adust vegetation, causing extended ecological damage, Namibia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism and the presidency said.

The ministry has announced it has closed definite tourer routes and warned visitors to beryllium cautious arsenic the upwind absorption could alteration unpredictably.

After an exigency furniture gathering connected Saturday, the authorities besides deployed 2 helicopters to the country connected Sunday to assistance firefighting efforts, the presidency said successful a statement.

The reinforcements joined 40 soldiers who had arrived connected Saturday to assistance police, locals and radical from adjacent farms and backstage enterprises who had already been warring the flames, it said.

The other troops “are deployed from assorted regions and volition beryllium deployed to each affected areas”, Defence Minister Frans Kapofi told the AFP quality agency.

“An chartless fig of wildlife had been killed, whilst, thankfully, nary quality casualties person been reported,” the presidency said, adding that the blaze had dispersed into immoderate communal areas.

“The occurrence poses a important menace to the biodiversity, wildlife and livelihood of the communities successful the affected areas. Approximately 30 percent of the grazing successful the parkland has been destroyed by the fire,” it said, adding it was inactive trying to found what ignited the blaze.

The Environment Ministry said connected Saturday astatine slightest 9 antelopes had been killed successful the blaze, which was believed to person started from charcoal accumulation activities connected commercialized farms bordering the park.

“The ecological harm wrong ENP is extensive, with an estimated 775,163 hectares [1.9 cardinal acres], astir 34 percent of the park, burned,” it said.

The ministry of situation and tourism says ecological harm wrong Etosha National Park is extensive, with an estimated 775 163 hectares, astir 34% of the park, burnt.https://t.co/F6M4rVHY3k pic.twitter.com/ueTBcwj0gj

— The Namibian (@TheNamibian) September 28, 2025

The presidency said accusation provided by teams connected the crushed indicated that the occurrence was nether power connected Sunday successful immoderate regions but continuing successful the Omusati portion adjacent the borderline with Angola.

The parkland stretches 22,270sq km (8,600sq miles), and its main diagnostic is the past Etosha brackish pan, which is astir 130km (81 miles) agelong and 50km (31 miles) wide and draws immense flocks of migratory flamingoes during the rainy season.

Namibia’s President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah told the United Nations General Assembly past week that “climate alteration is scorching our lands and drying up our rivers”.

She besides called connected governments to enactment the Namib Declaration connected a stronger UN Convention to combat desertification.

Namibia was among dozens of countries to reason astatine the International Court of Justice (ICJ) past twelvemonth that clime alteration and quality rights are intimately linked, with the godforsaken nation’s submission focusing peculiarly connected the close to entree to water.

The world’s apical tribunal found successful July that countries indispensable conscionable their clime obligations and that failing to bash truthful could interruption planetary law, perchance opening the doorway for affected nations to question reparations successful aboriginal ineligible cases.

In a recent report, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recovered that wildfires are progressively contributing to mediocre aerial quality, with clime alteration driving progressively predominant fires and fume travelling agelong distances to different countries and adjacent different continents.

Recent probe from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) besides found that fires that person ravaged hundreds of thousands of hectares of onshore successful Portugal and Spain were made worse by clime change.