Kilimanjaro has had little time to recover. Early on the morning of 28 September, a fire broke out in the Sangarini area near Kamwanga, in Moshi District. Driven by the wind, it moved toward the Shira Plateau, which sits at close to 3,800 metres on the western side of the continent’s highest mountain. The following day, the Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) temporarily closed the Lemosho and Londorosi routes, two of the six official paths to the summit.
« The Tanzania National Parks Authority wishes to inform tourism stakeholders and the public that it has temporarily suspended the use of the Lemosho and Londrosi routes, » said Catherine Mbena, TANAPA’s Assistant Conservation Commissioner for Communications. The authority said the safety of tourists, staff and people working in conservation and tourism comes first while crews work to contain the blaze. The Machame, Marangu and Rongai routes are still open, and climbs already booked are being moved onto them.
Several agencies are fighting the fire together: TANAPA, the Fire and Rescue Force, the Tanzania Forest Services Agency (TFS), the Enduimet Wildlife Management Area, reservists and people from nearby villages. The cause of the fire has not been determined, and an investigation is under way. Officials hope the first rains expected in northern Tanzania will help bring it under control.
This is the latest in a worrying series of fires. On 3 September, a first blaze started in the Kikererwa area near the Kenyan border. It was more than 90 percent contained two days later, but crews needed almost two weeks to put it out completely. The final assessment, made around 17 September, put the damage at about 1,800 hectares of vegetation. Strong winds and very dry vegetation made the firefighters’ work harder.
Two fires in less than a month are a warning sign for an ecosystem that has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. The high-altitude moorland and heath zones, home to species found nowhere else, grow back slowly. Every fire also weakens the forests that hold the water communities at the foot of the mountain depend on. The dry season keeps getting longer, which leaves the vegetation especially easy to ignite.
The economy is at stake too. Every year, Kilimanjaro draws tens of thousands of trekkers, and they support guides, porters, tour operators and hotels around Moshi and Arusha. TANAPA says tourism is continuing on the routes that remain open. If the fire drags on, though, it could disrupt the end of the peak season.