BW · Countries

Wildfires in Botswana

2,021 fires over 2,000 hectares with a perimeter estimated by GWIS since 2016, adding up to 13,673,570 hectares burned across 23 subdistricts.

Only fires of 2,000 ha or more get an entry: smaller ones are not in the lists or the entry totals, but they are in the GWIS yearly series.

The season, week by week

Copernicus GWIS

Botswana, at this point in the year: 629,008 hectares, below the 2012–2025 average of 1,812,907.

2026 average 2012–2025 lowest and highest

2012–2026

Yearly average 2016–20252,214,728 ha

Worst year2021 5,213,108 ha

With a page here2,021 since 2016

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›See the year-by-year table

Year	Fires	hectares	Source
2026	1,190	652,979	GWIS
2025	1,101	825,994	GWIS
2024	1,057	819,930	GWIS
2023	4,505	4,416,359	GWIS
2022	3,278	3,803,431	GWIS
2021	4,403	5,213,108	GWIS
2020	1,500	1,443,178	GWIS
2019	1,055	865,463	GWIS
2018	1,454	1,356,382	GWIS
2017	2,258	2,585,097	GWIS
2016	1,011	818,335	GWIS
2015	1,467	1,168,527	GWIS
2014	1,361	1,113,764	GWIS
2013	2,049	1,838,538	GWIS
2012	2,135	2,114,396	GWIS

National estimates from Copernicus GWIS, rebuilt from heat detections since 2012.

Hectares with a perimeter estimated by GWIS by the fire’s starting month, and the largest fire of each year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Σ	Largest of the year
2026	4k					28k	215k	298k	217k	316k			1,078,350	Kweneng South 57,940 ha
2025						7k	5k	81k	231k	249k			573,430	Ngamiland West 42,664 ha
2024		6k	20k		13k	21k	14k	69k	109k	82k	4k	8k	345,924	Ngamiland West 28,349 ha
2023	7k		13k	43k	34k	241k	153k	957k	663k	115k	78k	3k	2,308,081	Ghanzi 149,587 ha
2022				3k	47k	56k	81k	391k	1,112k	648k	7k		2,344,218	Chobe 106,342 ha
2021					3k	60k	53k	980k	1,235k	832k	76k	7k	3,245,408	Ngamiland West 159,584 ha
2020					2k	4k	6k	7k	444k	247k	13k		722,942	Chobe 46,491 ha
2019	8k	105k	29k	12k	28k	7k	28k	23k	117k	78k	6k	4k	444,146	Ngamiland West 86,087 ha
2018	23k			27k	14k	28k	11k	37k	439k	83k	8k	31k	700,829	Chobe 145,805 ha
2017							12k	294k	772k	262k	105k	81k	1,525,007	Ghanzi 74,259 ha
2016	20k	10k		15k	30k	8k	2k	21k	139k	133k	3k	4k	385,235	Chobe 27,106 ha