CIASA STATEMENT ON ILLICIT MINING ACTIVITIES IN PROTECTED AREAS
The issue of focus for this communique is the recent explosion in illicit mining activities within protected areas which has led to the escalation in Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) in the Chipinge District of Manicaland, Zimbabwe. This is home to the Ndau Indigenous people who represent a small minority in the country. There has been an upsurge in Human Wildlife Conflict due to illegal diamond mining activities in and around wildlife conservancies, degrading and destroying the natural habitat for large mammals like elephants and driving out of the reserves, animals which serve as food to carnivores like lions. The degradation is a direct result of the unsafe mining methods used by the illegal miners. Cyclone Idai and the following El Nino induced cyclones in the district have been responsible for the destruction and sweeping away of the perimeter fences of the wildlife conservancies allowing seamless migration of wildlife from their conservancies to human settlements. Both large mammals and carnivores have preyed upon human settlements and affected household economic activity with women being the hardest hit. It is worth noting that Chipinge is surrounded by several game reserves including Chipinge Safari area, Devuli Ranch, Save Conservancy amongst other smaller and/or private game reserves.
Chief amongst the effects of the proliferation of illicit mining in conservancies is the disturbance of the natural habitat for large mammals and predatory animals. Secondly, unregulated human settlement has also attributed to the destruction of animal habitats within protected areas and thus making them vulnerable to the elements, hunger and starvation. This then pushes the animals out of the conservancies and into human settlement and farming areas destroying life and crops with a disproportionate inclination of victims being women.
As such, we call upon the relevant stakeholders to work with the local communities to create social fencing interventions. Without community participation in environmental protection activities, there is no community benefit and as such, adjacent communities ought to play a bigger role in monitoring illegal mining activities and reporting whilst equally raising early warning systems in case of wildlife straying towards human settlement.
In the same vein, the Environmental Management Agency, Parks and Wildlife, Forestry Commission and all key stakeholders in the environment sector be capacited by central government to effectively execute the their mandate in the protection and promotion of their target Protected areas for effective environmental management.
Tadiwanashe Jude Temba
Chairperson: Indigenous Peoples and Environmental Committe
Citizens In Action Southern Africa