By Peter Tanyanyiwa
Mavuradonha locals are up in arms with a Chinese company, Afrochine, which has allegedly been illegally carrying out mining activities at the Mavuradonha Wilderness monument, sparking protests from locals who say the natural wildlife heritage in the area should be preserved.
The locals pleaded with the authorities to push for the illegal chrome mining activities in the area to stop as it is now affecting their water supply and endangering their livestock. They also said that the mining activities are also threatening the country’s national heritage site.
Mavuradonha Wilderness is rich with cultural heritage, including rock paintings, the Mutapa empire and the Nyatsimba Mutota burial site.
The locals and the business people in the area say that they were not consulted before the company was given the mining rights.
“We were not consulted before this Chinese mining company was allowed to come in our area, what bothers us the most as people who have stayed in this area for year’s is that we can see how the natural wilderness is being destroyed.
“And to make matters worse the Chinese don’t even compensate their damage in any way, or develop the area, when they are done, they just leave and find another space to destroy and we are left to suffer from the effects,” said a local resident who preferred anonymity.
The Mavuradonha Wilderness was gazetted as a national monument in 2017, but has been reduced to a shell due to rampant illegal mining, illegal settlers, poaching and deforestation.
Mavuradonha, which stretches from Guruve to Muzarabani, Pfura and Mbire, has been viewed as a potential tourism hub for Mashonaland Central province.
The world-renowned Mavuradonha is a World Heritage Site “nominee” and the local community view it as a sacred place where their ancestors and spirits reside.
Bird Life Zimbabwe recently organised a tour for journalists in Mavuradonha so that they get first-hand information, Bird Life Zimbabwe chief executive Julia Pierini said the trail of destruction in the name of mining in the area has many disastrous effects including shortage of water supply in the area.
“The impact of mining in the area will be catastrophic as the resulting air, noise and water pollution, the disturbance from infrastructure development are totally incompatible with any efforts to conserve the significant biodiversity and cultural heritage of the area.
“The decision that favours short term gain through single use destructive abstraction over conserving vital ecological processes (including water provisioning) that have evolved over millennia is fundamentally flawed and consequently the decision to allow mining in the area should be reversed with immediate effect,” said Bird Life Zimbabwe.
Bird Life Zimbabwe went on to say that the wilderness was a popular breeding area for animals such as zebras, wildebeests, impalas and kudus.
It said the wildlife species there were under threat as the Chinese had indicated the area is under their jurisdiction and the animals would be killed.
George Seremwe who runs Mavuradonha Wilderness said water supplies for animals in the conservancy had already been affected by the chrome mining and it was no longer flowing in the rivers.
“The water is no longer flowing in rivers because of the distabances in the mountains by the Chinese company.
“Fortunately for villagers, they can still survive on underground water but if mining continues then that will be the beginning of serious water challenges,” said Seremwe.
He added that the Mavuradonha wilderness is full of many cultural heritage aspects which should be protected and the Chinese can never understand the significance of such things, to them it’s just nothing, all they want is to mine, sadly however in the process they are destroying what is left of Zimbabwean heritage.