Antinuclear

UNESCO warns against uranium mining in Tanzania’s World Heritage Park

Unesco warns Dar on Selous mining project The Citizen, 17 July 2011

By Lucas Liganga The Citizen Chief Reporter, The World Heritage Committee of Unesco has warned Tanzania against plans to mine uranium and undertake oil exploration in the Selous Game Reserve. It said the move would constitute a clear case for inscribing the game reserve on the list of World Heritage in Danger. But Natural Resources and Tourism minister Ezekiel Maige told The Citizen yesterday that the World Heritage Committee was an “insignificant entity from which we cannot take orders”…

The committee said at the end of its 35th session in Paris on June 29 that the proposed projects would lead to the weakening of the legal protection of the Selous, Africa’s largest protected reserve covering 50,000 square kilometres…..

Dr Rolf D. Baldus, a wildlife conservationist who has worked in the Selous Game Reserve for 13 years, and is regarded as one of the major authorities on the reserve, said there was general agreement that no mining activities may be conducted in a World Heritage Site.  “The Selous cannot remain a World Heritage Site if the Tanzanian government gives the go-ahead for mining to start within the property,” said Dr Baldus in a statement made available The Citizen.
Dr Baldus, who has authored or edited about 60 publications on the Selous Game Reserve, said Tanzania had not provided an environmental impact analysis (EIA) for the projects in the Selous.,,,,,,“We know from uranium mining around the world that it potentially can have catastrophic consequences for the environment and the people living in the area…

July 19, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized