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A family of elephants march in a straight line through the landscape of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe.
The government of Zimbabwe has announced that mining in areas controlled by National Parks is prohibited with immediate effect.
In a statement released Tuesday night after the weekly Cabinet meeting, an announcement by Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said: “Mining in areas controlled by National Parks is prohibited with immediate effect. Steps are being taken to cancel de immediate all mining titles in possession of National Parks. “
This follows a public outcry and the threat of a court battle after the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa granted coal exploration rights to two Chinese companies in one of the country’s iconic nature reserves, Hwange National Park.
Zimbabwe had awarded two Chinese companies, namely Afrochine Energy and Zimbabwe Zhongxin Coal Mining Group, concessions within a national park and safari areas.
One of the concessions incorporated two dams, the Deteema Dam and the Masuma Dam, placing the animals’ already limited ability to access the water under additional threat.
Last year, 55 elephants were reported to have been found dead near containers of dry water, victims of a devastating drought that threatened the lives of humans and wildlife alike. If the coal projects continue, they would put more pressure on the national park’s holding capacity. Hwange National Park has a capacity of 15,000 elephants, but currently has more than 50,000.
In a statement, the Bhejane Trust, which works with the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority on conservation in the Hwange area, said the two companies had Special Grants that only the president could issue.
The Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (Zela) and Fedelis Chima, a local Hwange resident, filed an urgent chamber request in high court on Sunday.
The lawsuit said that the Special Grant violated the country’s laws because it was allowed without first consulting the Ministry of the Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality, where an environmental impact assessment certificate is issued.
“The issuance of the Special Grant in February 2019 before the environmental impact assessment violates section 97 of the Environmental Management Law,” argued Zela and Chima.
“The authorization and the commencement of mining in a protected national park violates the constitutional duty of all respondents to prevent ecological degradation and promote conservation in terms of section 73 (b) of the Zimbabwe constitution,” the request says. .
The Hwange Tourism Association has also issued a statement calling on President Mnangagwa to “cancel all Special Grants found within Hwange National Park and all National Parks in Zimbabwe.”
“As our President, let’s save our tourism industry and preserve the livelihoods of millions of people in Zimbabwe and around the world. Hwange National Park, the wildlife and cultural sanctuaries it contains, is our heritage and a legacy to leave. for our children and their children. “the statement reads.
For its part, the government of Zimbabwe said had taken “note of the ongoing discussions around the Hwange National Park and we assured the Nation that the Government [would] to pronounce itself in the next days “.
Ambitious plan
For the Zimbabwean government, the new coal mines fit an ambitious plan to be an energy exporter by 2023.
The southern African country said it has power projects of more than 5,000MW in its portfolio.
Afrochine Energy, which is the local unit of Chinese company Tsingshan, was expected to produce 100MW, while Zimbabwe Zhongxin Electrical Energy would contribute 430MW.
Mines Minister Winston Chiendo said that Zimbabwe could earn up to US $ 3 billion from these energy exports.
According to the Worldometer website, Zimbabwe possesses 553 million tonnes (MMst) of proven coal reserves as of 2016, ranking it 38th in the world.
Zimbabwe has proven reserves equivalent to 163.3 times its annual consumption. This means that it has about 163 years of coal left, at current consumption levels and excluding unproven reserves.
* This article was updated at 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 8 to reflect that the concessions were canceled.
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