Government must be commended for signing the historic collaborative agreement with Zimbabwe for signing a Memorandum of Understanding on the development of the Lower Zambezi-Mana Pools Trans-Frontier Conservation Area.
This, we believe, will ensure an environmentally friendly development of the area that will not only benefit the people but the wildlife as well.
Whether by design or coincidence, we notice that one of the positive developments of the MOU is yesterday’s announcement by Government ordering Mwembeshi Resources Ltd, the company that is developing the copper mine in Lower Zambezi National Park to immediately halt all activities.
Green Economy and Environment Minister Collins Nzovu, said in Lusaka yesterday that all work to develop the $494 million Kangaluwi copper project in the wildlife-rich park must stop.
He said the company violated a number of environmental conditions pertaining to the project.
Government was contradicting itself having at the same time approved the commencement of largescale open pit mining in the Lower Zambia National Park against strong objections from the WorldWide Fund Zambia.
While appealing to Government to review and cancel the mining licence for the large-scale mining operations in the Lower Zambezi National Park, it argued that “What the Lower Zambezi National Park needs to fully unleash its economic and social potential is a transformational plan on environmentally responsible tourism in the entire area.
The MOU on the Lower Zambezi and Mana Pools Transfrontier Conservation Area, commonly referred to as the LOZAMAP TFCA was signed by the two countries last Friday.
Mr Sikumba signed for the Zambian government while the Zimbabwen Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Mr N. M. Ndlovu signed for his government.
A Trans-frontier Conservation Area (TFCA) is a region that straddles the borders of two or more countries, where natural and cultural resources are managed collaboratively by the governments and/or authorities involved.
As a conservation concept, TFCAs arose in response to the management challenges posed by fragmented ecosystems clustered along international boundaries and disrupted traditional migration routes caused by arbitrary political boundaries.
Mining, despite the short-term benefits of creating employment opportunities for the local communities will cause greater environmental damage to the eco-system of the Lower Zambezi.
According to Mr Nzovu, the Zambia Environmental Management Agency yesterday “served a compliance order” on Mwembeshi Resources to stop road construction and mining related activities and construction of buildings.
The company’s plans for the project has been heavily criticised by conservationists who say mining is a threat to wildlife such as elephants, will hurt a flourishing tourism industry and toxic chemicals from a planned tailings facility could end up contaminating water in the Zambezi basin posing danger to livelihoods.
The risk of pollution from the operations could also place Zimbabwe’s nearby Mana Pools National Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, at risk, environmentalists say.
We believe it is in the long-term interests of the two signatories to ensure that the Lower Zambezi and Mana Pools surrounding areas are maintained in their natural form.
Mining activities, even though it has been argued are in the interior will ultimately affect the movement of wildlife.
Thus, it does make sense that the Zambian government should suspend mining activities when it has signed the MOU with Zimbabwe to protect the Lower Zambezi whose eco-system knows no international borders.
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