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September 30, 2025 - Fires in Namibia
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On September 22, 2025, a wildfire was spotted in the Namibia’s Etosha National Park. Within a week, the explosively growing blaze had devastated sensitive ecosystems within the park as well as damaged grazing and communal lands outside the park’s boundaries.
According to multiple media reports, Namibia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) confirmed widespread damage and loss of wildlife. On September 28, a statement from MEFT revealed that about 775,163 hectares within the Park (about 34 percent of the total park area) as well as 171,098 hectares of land outside the park in the Omusati and Oshana regions had burned.
On September 29, Tjitunga Elijah Ngurare, the Prime Minister of Namibia, posted on his Facebook page that the fire is under control in Oshikoto and Oshana, but it continues out of control in Omusati. He also posted that the ecological damage is “extensive”, noting that several antelope have been killed by the fire and a pangolin was rescued. Other sources have reported at least one elephant death. Any estimate of animal deaths and impacts on the many towns affected are in the earliest stages.
Etosha National Park sits in northwestern Namibia. It includes grasslands and woodlands surrounding the ancient salt-encrusted lake bottom known as Etosha Pan and provides habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, including the endangered black rhino. The park is not only ecologically important, but also vital to Namibia’s economy, as it is an active and busy eco-tourism destination.
The savannas and the scrubby woodlands of the region are prone to wildfires and, if left uncontrolled, such fires can be huge and devastating. Wet spells produce a surge in vegetative growth, but the following heat and aridity (the region receives only about 10-20 inches of rain per year) turns the growth tinder dry. While fires are actually necessary to keep the savannas healthy, small and controlled fires (prescribed burns) are more effective and do less damage than such widespread, out of control infernos. Wildfires typically appear in the severe dry season, which runs from April to October.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image of active fire and the massive burn scar in and around Etosha National Park, Namibia on September 28. Here, the large Etosha Pan appears dull white, open land with sparse vegetation is tan, active fire is marked in red, and smoke is gray. Areas that are dark brown or black are the “burn scar”—land that has been seared by fire.
While the largest burn scar is ringed by active fire along a number of fronts, two separate burn scars are also revealed, each showing active fire. The three separate burn scars suggest that there were at least three different ignitions. The initial fire has been attributed to “suspected charcoal production activities on bordering commercial farms”, according to Mr. Ngurare. While no official statement has been made on the smaller fires, it is possible they may have been sparked by windblown embers from the initial, largest fire.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 9/28/2025
Resolutions:
1km (33 KB), 500m (116.8 KB), 250m (465.3 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
On September 22, 2025, a wildfire was spotted in the Namibia’s Etosha National Park. Within a week, the explosively growing blaze had devastated sensitive ecosystems within the park as well as damaged grazing and communal lands outside the park’s boundaries.
According to multiple media reports, Namibia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) confirmed widespread damage and loss of wildlife. On September 28, a statement from MEFT revealed that about 775,163 hectares within the Park (about 34 percent of the total park area) as well as 171,098 hectares of land outside the park in the Omusati and Oshana regions had burned.
On September 29, Tjitunga Elijah Ngurare, the Prime Minister of Namibia, posted on his Facebook page that the fire is under control in Oshikoto and Oshana, but it continues out of control in Omusati. He also posted that the ecological damage is “extensive”, noting that several antelope have been killed by the fire and a pangolin was rescued. Other sources have reported at least one elephant death. Any estimate of animal deaths and impacts on the many towns affected are in the earliest stages.
Etosha National Park sits in northwestern Namibia. It includes grasslands and woodlands surrounding the ancient salt-encrusted lake bottom known as Etosha Pan and provides habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, including the endangered black rhino. The park is not only ecologically important, but also vital to Namibia’s economy, as it is an active and busy eco-tourism destination.
The savannas and the scrubby woodlands of the region are prone to wildfires and, if left uncontrolled, such fires can be huge and devastating. Wet spells produce a surge in vegetative growth, but the following heat and aridity (the region receives only about 10-20 inches of rain per year) turns the growth tinder dry. While fires are actually necessary to keep the savannas healthy, small and controlled fires (prescribed burns) are more effective and do less damage than such widespread, out of control infernos. Wildfires typically appear in the severe dry season, which runs from April to October.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image of active fire and the massive burn scar in and around Etosha National Park, Namibia on September 28. Here, the large Etosha Pan appears dull white, open land with sparse vegetation is tan, active fire is marked in red, and smoke is gray. Areas that are dark brown or black are the “burn scar”—land that has been seared by fire.
While the largest burn scar is ringed by active fire along a number of fronts, two separate burn scars are also revealed, each showing active fire. The three separate burn scars suggest that there were at least three different ignitions. The initial fire has been attributed to “suspected charcoal production activities on bordering commercial farms”, according to Mr. Ngurare. While no official statement has been made on the smaller fires, it is possible they may have been sparked by windblown embers from the initial, largest fire.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 9/28/2025
Resolutions:
1km (33 KB), 500m (116.8 KB), 250m (465.3 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
