The long-term hazard cascade of an unprecedented wildfire in a tropical mountain ecosystem

A wildfire that burned 31 km² of pristine tropical forest and wetland in Uganda's Rwenzori Mountains National Park in February 2012 triggered a long-term hazard cascade, including ten major floods since then. Two debris floods required large-scale humanitarian responses, while post-fire erosion widened the River Nyamwamba sevenfold, breaching copper-cobalt mine tailings and mobilizing an estimated 744,000 tons of waste into the river. Slow vegetation recovery at high altitudes and feedback loops between hazards have prolonged this high-risk state. The study combines remote sensing, humanitarian records, field surveys, and interviews to highlight the urgent need for understanding emergent tropical mountain fires and their downstream impacts.

Veness, W., Day, M., Ross, A. C., Bamutaze, Y., Han, J., Mulangwa, D., Mwesigwa, A., Ntale, E., Tindimugaya, C., Guma, B., Stephens, E., & Buytaert, W. (2026). The long-term hazard cascade of an unprecedented wildfire in a tropical mountain ecosystem. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 26(6), 3045–3075. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-3045-2026