Zambian mine threatens world heritage site

The high court in Zambia is hearing an application from civil society organisations that are trying to stop the granting of a licence for a copper mine in the Lower Zambezi National Park.

Australian-owned mine Zambezi Resources Limited was given a 25-year permit in 2011 to prospect and mine in the Lower Zambezi National Park. The Kangaluwi Copper Project will see an opencast mine being built in the park, which is a formally protected area and part of the Zambezi River’s catchment zone.

It is also across the river from Mana Pools in Zimbabwe, a world heritage site.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists the Lower Zambezi National Park as a category two protected area. This means it must be maintained for “ecosystem protection” and recreation. In 2011, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation encouraged the Zambian government to apply to make the park a world heritage site – this would then create a trans-boundary park with Mana Pools.

Compromising ecological value
The park stretches along 120km of the Zambezi River, and the government’s tourism agency says it is the fourth most visited park in the country. In 2012 the Zambian Environmental Management Authority rejected the mine’s environmental impact assessment.

“The proposed site is not suitable for the nature of the project because it is located in the middle of a national park, and thus intends to compromise the ecological value of the park as well as the ecosystem,” it said.

But in February the mine was given permission to go ahead by Zambia’s minister for Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection. But this was temporarily halted, thanks to a court challenge from the Zambia Community Natural Resources Management Forum.

The mine has said it will make a mine that does not damage the ecosystem in the park. Earlier this year it released a statement saying, “Zambezi Resources promises to build the world’s greenest copper mine.”

Negative consequences
Groups opposing the mining say it is within the middle Zambezi elephant corridor. This was created to allow the herbivores to move freely along their traditional migratory routes. It is also home to several endangered species, such as the African wild dog.

One of the principal opposition groups, the Zambian Community Based Natural Resources Forum – a grouping of non-governmental and community organisations – said the mine would “generate negative impacts” beyond Zambia’s borders. It would lead to “significant alteration of the area’s hydrological system”.

This would threaten Mana Pools in Zimbabwe, and was therefore threatening to create conflict between the states, it said in a statement last week. It would also be in contravention of regional water sharing agreements, it said. “The mining operation is likely to increase surface and ground water contamination in the Zambezi River and other local streams.”

It said that while the mine would create 250 jobs, more than 800 people were employed in local tourism. The mine would “lead to significant loss in tourism operations”.

Given the mine’s sensitive location and potential adverse impact on tourism, the group said it should not go ahead. “There is no feasible scenario under which the proposed project would proceed without causing severe and far-reaching environmental and geopolitical impacts.”

‘Stop the mine’
A discussion document paper on best practice for mining in the whole Southern African Development Community region, drafted by mining consulting firm Estelle Levin and released two months ago, found that Zambia’s “strong legal framework” was not being implemented. 

It used the Kangaluwi Copper Project as a case study. “Flaws have resulted in expert advice being disregarded and mining developments permitted in protected areas of high biodiversity call,” it said.

A comprehensive report by independent reviewer Dr Kellie Leigh, done for opposition groups, and released last week, proposed that the mining be scrapped. “There is considerable risk of long-term damage beyond the life of the project, to the health and well being of communities, wildlife and the environment.”

It also said that if the mine went ahead, it would set a dangerous precedent for other mining in national parks.

Last week a coalition of Zimbabwean civil society groups called on their environment minister to put pressure on his Zambian counterpart to stop the mine.

Source: Zambian mine threatens world heritage site (Mail & Guardian, SA, 23/11/14)

SIGN THE ZAMBEZI SOCIETY'S ONLINE PETITION HERE

READ MORE ON THIS ISSUE HERE.

Courts uphold stay of execution against mining in Lower Zambezi Natonal Park

The Lusaka High Court has upheld the stay of execution granted to six environmental organisations against Government’s decision to allow the opening of a mining project in the Lower Zambezi National Park. This means that the Kangaluwi mining project will not commence until the final determination of the appeal to the court. The organisations are challenging the Government’s decision on grounds that it was wrong in law and fact because it posed a danger on many people’s lives.

Judge Mubanga Kondolo said that if he lifted the stay of execution which was granted to the organisations on February 18, 2014, their appeal against the Ministry of Mines, to allow the commencement of large scale mining in the national park would become nugatory and rendered academic.

Mr Justice Kondolo said there was no need for the organisations to specify or prove exactly how they were affected by the project as was argued by attorney general Mumba Malila because the consequences of damage could affect anyone. “I shall not pronounce myself on the rest of the arguments of the parties save to state that a damage to the environment is a matter of public concern and interest which affects all people born and unborn. For this reason I find that the appellants do not need to specify or prove exactly how they are affected by the subject project” Mr Justice Kondolo said

Mr Justice Kondolo further said that the stay of execution granted against the minister’s decision would not amount to an injunction against the State because it was not civil proceedings as contemplated by section 16 (2) of the State Proceedings Act.

Source: Anti-Mining in Lower Zambezi group gets victory against Government in Court - The Lusaka Times (7 April 2014)

Minister gives green light for Kangaluwi Copper Project in Lower Zambezi National Park

From: The Zambezi Traveller
Date: 26 Jan 2014

Zambezi Resources Ltd announced recently that Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Minister Larry Kalaba has overturned the Zambia Environmental Management Agency’s rejection of its Environmental Impact Study and given the green light for Zambezi Resources Ltd to proceed with the Kangaluwi Copper Project in Zambia. The Park was being considered as a potential World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Full story here (external link)

Minister dismisses petition against UNWTO assembly

Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Minister, Wylbur Simuusa, has dismissed a petition by environmentalists led by Ian Manning that called for a boycott of the UNWTO General Assembly, calling it false and unpatriotic.

Manning has circulated the document to members of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), urging them to boycott the General Assembly to be co-hosted by Zambia and Zimbabwe this August (See blog post here). Manning claimed, among other things, that the government intended to allow mining activities in the Lower Zambezi National Park.

"Some of the allegations made in this petition are unfortunately not true. Firstly, the proposed copper mine in the Lower Zambezi National Park was rejected by the Zambia Environmental Agency (ZEMA) and is in the process of being appealed. The petition suggests that there is a statutory limit on the period in which judgment should be delivered," he said on Tuesday. "This is not so, there is no statutory limit and a more careful process is underway to determine whether this decision to preserve the eco-tourism potential of the valley will at the same time be releasing some of the wealth trapped underground in Zambia for the benefit of its extremely poor population. It is not true that the minister in charge of the environment or indeed the Zambian government has failed to make a decision on the issue."

Simuusa said while government admitted that two fundamental requirements were overlooked when a large-scale mining licence was issued to the developers of the proposed mine, the issue was being addressed. "One appeal meeting has been held and another one is scheduled following further submissions made. Everyone can rest assured that there will be no shortcuts and no compromise with environmental standards whether the mine goes ahead or not," Simuusa said. "The petition also alleges that the tar road is being built through the Lower Zambezi National Park minus the environmental impact having been properly evaluated. This is totally untrue. Extreme care has been exercised with the 8000 kilometres of the new roads planned in the Link Zambia programme."

He said the government was encouraging debate on how to handle the conflict between conservation and exploitation of natural resources. "Can mining and management of a game reserve be done at the same time in the same place? As pressure increases for the exploitation and extraction of minerals and other resources, as a nation we need to settle this question, especially that the conflict exists not only in the Lower Zambezi National Park but in other protected areas of Zambia where there are abundant minerals and other resources," said Simuusa. "The Zambian government is at a loss to understand the boycotting of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation Conference, which will have a beneficial effect on the management of our superb wildlife and natural resources. We will urge everyone not to sign the petition because it seeks to cure mischiefs that do not exist."

Source: The Zambian Post, Simuusa dismisses petition against UNWTO assembly , 24 May 2013

Environmentalists petition UNWTO members to boycott assembly

Environmentalists led by Ian Manning have petitioned members of the UN World Tourism Organisation to boycott the General Assembly scheduled to take place in Victoria Falls and Livingstone - if Zambia allows mining activities in the Lower Zambezi National Park.

According to the petition that has been sent the 154 UNWTO member countries and posted online at www.change.org (external link), the UNWTO and its partners, including Zambia and Zimbabwe, must abide by the UNWTO Code of Ethics that recognise ecotourism as key in the fight against poverty.

The petition accuses the government of failing to uphold the rejection of th open-pit mining project in the Lower Zambezi National Park by the Zambian Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA).

"Its Minister is failing to make a decision on the appeal made in November 2012. In addition, President Sata personally supervises the Road Development Agency, their priority being to construct a tar road through the park without any environmental or strategic oversight. As the miners - Australia's Zambezi Resources Limited - have made clear, President Sata and his senior ministers support the project," read excerpts of the draft petition.

"Therefore, the only reason for the Minister not upholding the appeal by the miners within the statutory two weeks is to save Presidents Sata from being embarrassed at the Victoria Falls and Livingstone UNWTO General Assembly meetings. In the absence of an immediate undertaking to prohibit mining in the Lower Zambezi National Park and to halt the building of a tarred highway until the normal Environmental Impact Statement procedures are followed, I call on member countries and affiliate members to be bound by the UNWTO global code of ethics and BOYCOTT the twentieth General Assembly."

"This document should also insist that Zambia give an immediate undertaking that no mining or unplanned and unsanctioned road programmes will be allowed in the Lower Zambezi National Park. Failure to do so will require a boycott of the August UNWTO/Zimbabwe/Zambia general assembly by member countries and affiliate members,".

It advised people to sign the petition aimed at protecting the environment and the promotion of sustainable development, stating that the Zambezi basin's massive area of primary nature was threatened by mining, hydro-electric schemes and gross infrastructural development. "While gathered on the Zambezi River at Victoria Falls and Livingstone, many members will be unaware that downstream is the mid-Zambezi wonderland of nature in which ecotourism thrives - supposedly secured by a broad array of protected areas, including a world heritage site, and with the massive support of 17 chiefs of the Zambezi Basin who in October 2008 called on their governments and SADC to ban all mining there,".

And Manning stated that the petition had created an awareness of the threat to the Lower Zambezi National Park but it has not had much effect on the Zambian Patriotic Front Government.

Source: Adapted from The Zambian Post, Conservationists petition UNWTO members to boycott assembly (17 May 2013)

Lower Zambezi National Park Mining Company to Appeal

Gill Staden of the Livingstone Weekly (28 April 2013) reports that Zambezi Resources are set to appeal against the decision by Zambia's Envrionment Agency to throw out their plans to mine within the Lower Zambezi National Park (see our previous post here).

Quoting from Mining Weekly they report:

'Zambezi Resources is looking to raise up to A$15.4-million [Australian Dollars] through an entitlement issue to complete the oxide bankable feasibility study (BFS) for its Kangaluwi copper project, in Zambia... Zambezi executive chairperson David Vilensky said that the raising would enable the company to eliminate debt and simplify its funding framework as it sought to secure the environmental-impact statement (EIS) for its Kangaluwi copper project... Vilensky said that he was confident that the company had addressed all concerns in relation to the EIS, and had been advised of Presidential and government support for the project to move ahead. "We look forward to receipt of the required EIS approval and... are focused on what needs to be done to get this company into production" he added.'

See the Livingstone Weekly blog here

Mining in Lower Zambezi Park thrown out

From the Zambezi Traveller, Issue 11, December 2012

In a landmark decision, the Zambia Environmental Management Agency has rejected mining activities in the Lower Zambezi National Park, under the Environmental Management Act of 2011. Despite the ruling, Zambezi Resources, the developers behind the proposed mining development, have lodged an appeal to the Minister of Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection.

Red more: Zambezi Traveller: Mining in the Park thrown out