Harare — Zimbabwe’s government has banned mining in wildlife parks, sparking a row with Chinese investors who were granted licences to mine in the country’s biggest national reserve, Hwange National Park.
The ban follows the death of 25 elephants in mysterious circumstances in Hwange National Park, which has about half of the country’s 80,000 elephant herd.
After the elephant deaths, conservationists accused two Chinese companies who are exploring for coal in Hwange of causing the deaths.
Zimbabwe’s government immediately responded to the outcry from conservationists by imposing an immediate ban on mining in national parks.
However, on Friday, the Chinese embassy in Harare said though it accepted the decision, it was not amused and accused Zimbabwe’s government of “policy ambiguities”.
In a carefully worded statement, the embassy issued a number of prescriptions to the Zimbabwean government while voicing its displeasure with how its investors had been treated.
“We propose Zimbabwe promulgate and implement laws and regulations to increase corporate transparency in the mining area and promote the sustainable growth of business.
“Therefore we once again propose the establishment of a compliance mechanism in all mining companies in the country to oversee whether the enterprises operate legally, whether they comply with Zimbabwe’s environmental protection and labour policies and whether they trade mineral products in legal channels.”
But Zimbabwe’s government dug in its heels with environment minister Mangaliso Ndlovu saying the laws should be tightened to guard against any future mining in the game parks.
“Government takes seriously all proposals from conservationists. There are new mining regulations that are being adopted to amend the country’s mining laws. We expect that these will also factor in the issues raised by conservationists so that we will not see mining taking place in game parks again.”
Trevor Lane, a conservationist with Bhejane Trust in Hwange, said: “This is one of the greatest game parks in the world, and the mines would be in one of the most pristine areas of the park. The last black rhino population in Hwange National Park lives there, so do elephants and 3,000 buffalo.
“If it goes ahead it will be an end to the park. It would kill the tourist industry which is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Zimbabwe is home to 80,000 elephants, about a fifth of Africa’s total, environmentalists say. The elephant population fell sharply in recent years, mostly due to a combination of poaching, illegal hunting and drought.
Wildlife authorities say the biggest threat to Zimbabwe’s elephant herd is overpopulation. Lower rainfall this year could leave the animals facing starvation again after at least 200 died in 2019 of lack of water and food.
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