Fears raised over coal mining activities in the Hwange area
By Nomalanga Moyo
09 May 2013
Fears have been expressed that planned mining activities in the Hwange-Gwayi
Conservancy will have far-reaching negative implications for the country’s
wildlife and environment.
In the past two years the whole of the Gwayi Conservation area in
Matebeleland North has been parceled out as a coal mining venture, mainly to
the Chinese.
Speaking at the Bulawayo Press Club on Wednesday Langton Masunda, the
chairperson of the Hwange/Gwayi Tourism Association which has been
campaigning against the granting of mining rights in the area, said there
was evidence that there will be serious environmental degradation once
mining activities are in full swing.
The Hwange-Gwayi Conservancy is located on the periphery of Hwange National
Park, the country’s flagship game reserve which is home to an estimated
45,000 elephants and various wildlife species.
He said Zimbabwe also shares wildlife populations with neighbouring Botswana
and mining activities in the Gwayi valley would push the wildlife into
Botswana, which has drier conditions than Zimbabwe.
Masunda said mining activities so close to the national park — the movement
of machinery, the drilling and all the associated noise — will scare the
animals and severely decrease their population, with dire consequences for
future tourism.
Masunda said other mining related problems will affect water delivery to the
Matebeleland region. He told SW Radio: “In terms of relieving the region,
including Bulawayo, it means the much-talked about Matebeleland Zambezi
Water Project, which would require the construction of the Gwayi-Shangani
Dam will remain a pipedream. Other cities such as Gweru which is dependent
on the Shangani River will also be affected.”
Coal mining involves the use of chemicals such as ammonia, tar, benzine and
cammonia, which Masunda said would be released into the ground, leading to
the contamination of underground water streams, while also destroying marine
life.
Although an environmental assessment was carried out by the Environmental
Management Authority (EMA), Masunda said it was clear that the process was
‘rigged’, as it did not involve all the relevant stakeholders, as had been
agreed.
So far Chinese firm China Africa Sunlight Energy Zimbabwe, which was granted
a licence through a special presidential arrangement, has been mining coal
in the Gwayi valley.
Further downstream, communities which depend on the Gwayi and Shangani
rivers as water sources for personal consumption and for their livestock
also stand to be affected.
“Open cast mining or coal mining brings pollution to the very water source
that the people of Matabeleland are dependent on,” Masunda said.
Hwange-Gwayi Conservancy is a grouping of organization and individuals.
Hwange Dete Conservancy includes membership from Hwange National Park,
Forestry Commission, Consumptive and non-Consumptive tourism operators.
Together, they control about 32 farms in Matabeleland South.