[ad_1]
Conservationists, local communities and the Zimbabwean tourism sector are on edge, following reports that two Chinese companies allegedly received concessions to conduct exploratory drilling operations in Zimbabwe’s prestigious Hwange National Park.
Although it has not been confirmed that coal mining will take place in the park, the NPO Bhejane Trust of Rhinos and Wildlife posted on social media Wednesday that its rhino monitoring team found Chinese citizens in Hwange Park and confirmed that they were drilling core samples for coal. .
They were arrested by the park and turned over to the police, but soon reappeared with a permit granting them rights to continue their exploratory drilling exercise.
The area manager was not consulted, prompting the discovery that the government had assigned two coal mining concessions in the middle of Sinamatella and Robins, located in the park.
Mining activities, although they have not yet been confirmed to start, would endanger the lives of rhinos, large elephant populations and many other species. This includes the critically endangered black rhino, which roams the Sinamatella area.
A map showing the proposed mining sites in Hwange National Park. Photo: Bhejane Trust
According to Bhejane, the companies are Afrochine Energy, part of the China-based Tsingashan Group, and the Zimbabwe Zhongxin Coal Mining Group.
Bhejane Trust director Trevor Lane condemned the fact that no one was consulted about the drilling operations, saying the organization had only received a questionnaire from SustiGlobal, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) company, after it was they learned about the drilling operations.
Lane said The citizen the EIA was undated and consisted of half a page of half-hearted questions about the prospect of coal mining in the area.
However, Lane remains optimistic that exploration will in all likelihood be stifled, after attending a meeting Thursday morning. She said that at present, the government is being pressured and the ministers are already attending the meetings.
Colin Gillies of Wildlife and Environment Zimbabwe (WEZ) said he and others “are really concerned about this.”
“So many people are absolutely devastated that something of this nature could happen.”
He said WEZ was not aware of the drilling until the Bhejane Trust informed them.
Gillies said that coal mining activities are increasingly encroaching on the park’s borders, with signs that companies want to infiltrate the park.
“You will never fix the area where the mining takes place. There are huge reserves of coal in other areas as well. ”
Tourism industry at risk
In addition to sealing the fate of wildlife in the area if coal mining continues in the park, Gillies and Lane said it would be a fatal blow to the country’s tourism industry.
“If this happens, it will be the end of the park as we know it; the top half of the park would be a write-off, ”Lane said.
Gillies pointed out that ironically the area selected for mineral exploration is in an area where there are three luxury camps that were developed at enormous cost. This, together with the loss of employment, would be a severe blow to tourism.
“If there is a coal mine in the middle of a park, people will not go there.”
Gillies said that Zimbabwe’s financial situation was precarious at best before Covid-19, and that the pandemic has had a detrimental effect on the tourism sector, which is struggling to recover.
But Lane said her team isn’t panicking at this stage, but it was important to raise awareness “before it gets out of hand.”
He posited that the concessions may have been granted without fully appreciating the implications, but that significant pressure from at least 50 tour operators in the area should allow for urgent government mediation.
Hwange National Park, consisting of 14,600 km² of varied vegetation was established in 1928. It is world famous and is ranked among the best parks in Africa. It is home to at least 40,000 elephants and more than 400 different species of birds, Gillies said.
The area is famous for its biodiversity and is a major tourist attraction.
Zimbabwean media outlet Newzwire reported that the region is starved for energy supplies. President Emmerson Mnangagwa reportedly toured several new coal projects last month, and Zimbabwe’s mining department said that combined, the projects would add 3,000 MW of power by 2023.
Zimbabwe also struggles with regular power outages, as does the beleaguered state entity Eskom. According to The Independent, Zimbabwe’s electricity rates increased 19% in March.
Although heavily dependent on hydroelectric power, Zimbabwe has billions of tons of coal reserves in various known deposits, estimated to last for more than 100 years. The largest coal company in the country is the Hwange Colliery Company, and it is located next to the Hwange National Park.
For more news your way, download The Citizen app to ios and Android.
[ad_2]
