Latest news with #MinistryofGreenEconomyandEnvironment
Zawya
10-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Enhancing Conservation Through Data-Driven Decision-Making in Zambia
Zambia's rich biodiversity and extensive network of protected areas make it one of Africa's most important conservation hubs. Covering approximately 30% of the country's total land area, Zambia's 20 national parks and 36 game management areas (GMAs) serve as critical habitats for some of the world's most iconic wildlife species, including elephants, lions, leopards, cheetahs, rhinos, and over 750 bird species. These ecosystems support biodiversity conservation while also playing a significant role in Zambia's economy, including jobs, food security, and climate resilience. However, data limitations have often led to undervaluation of protected areas in national accounting systems, limiting their visibility in policy and development planning. To address these challenges, Zambia is updating its Wildlife and Protected Areas Accounts (WPAA) under the Zambia Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) Program, supported by the World Bank's Global Program for Sustainability (GPS) in collaboration with the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment (MGEE), the Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats), and the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW). The WPAA seeks to provide systematic, data-driven insights into the economic contributions, biodiversity trends, and sustainability of Zambia's protected areas, enhancing that conservation benefits are integrated into economic planning and national policy dialogues. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has actively supported Zambia by providing technical expertise and resources to strengthen the WPAA, focusing on integrating biodiversity and ecosystem data into national economic planning. Through its partnership with the Zambian government, WWF has facilitated capacity-building efforts to enhance data collection on wildlife populations and habitat trends. Additionally, WWF's involvement helps leverage conservation data to attract climate finance and promote sustainable land-use practices, ensuring that protected areas contribute to both ecological resilience and community livelihoods in Zambia. The rationale for updating Zambia's wildlife and protected areas accounts Zambia's wildlife sector is an essential pillar of the economy, particularly in relation to tourism, conservation, and community livelihoods. However, data gaps have historically hindered a full understanding of the true economic and ecological value of these areas. The updated accounts will demonstrate the economic contributions of wildlife-based tourism. Tourism remains a significant driver of Zambia's economy, with nature-based tourism directly contributing to over 7% of GDP and generating employment in rural communities adjacent to national parks and GMAs. Some of Zambia's most visited parks include South Luangwa National Park, known for its high density of leopards and as the birthplace of the walking safari, receives over 40,000 visitors annually, contributing millions of dollars in tourism revenue that generate local economic multipliers for green growth. Kafue National Park, one of Africa's largest protected areas, hosts diverse wildlife, including rare species such as cheetahs and wild dogs, yet remains underfunded in conservation efforts. Lower Zambezi National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, attracts international tourists for its pristine river ecosystem and growing luxury safari sector. Despite these successes, there is a lack of consolidated data on visitor trends, tourism spending, and employment linkages, making it difficult to craft informed policies for the sustainable growth of the sector. The updated WPAA will address these gaps by tracking revenue flows from conservation fees, private sector investments, and economic benefits accrued by local communities. The benefits of updating the WPAA are immense The long-term survival of Zambia's wildlife depends on accurate data collection and proactive conservation management. The WPAA will help track wildlife population trends, using aerial surveys and ranger reports to assess key species such as elephants, buffalos, and big cats. The accounts will also track habitat loss and land-use changes, which are major threats to conservation areas due to encroachment and agricultural expansion. The government will also use the accounts for characterizing poaching and illegal wildlife trade impacts, particularly for species targeted for ivory, bushmeat, and traditional medicine markets. This data will enhance conservation planning, ensuring that limited resources are allocated to priority areas and that anti-poaching efforts are strategically reinforced. There is scope for strengthening community-based natural resource management. More than 1.5 million Zambians live in or around GMAs and rely on wildlife-based income, sustainable hunting quotas, and tourism-related employment. The WPAA will document the share of revenue from protected areas flows back into community projects and identify policy gaps that hinder equitable benefit-sharing mechanisms. Inclusive local development is critical in reducing human-wildlife conflicts and incentivizing sustainable land-use practices. Another impact of the updated accounts revolved around enhanced policy integration and climate adaptation strategies. The WPAA will support evidence-based policymaking by embedding conservation insights into Zambia's 8th National Development Plan (8-NDP), the National Climate Change Policy, and biodiversity strategies. Recognizing the carbon sequestration potential of protected forests and wetlands, the accounts will also be instrumental in Zambia's climate commitments, including its national contributions under the Paris Agreement. Meanwhile, the data generated from the WPAA will directly inform the GREAT Transformational Development Program (GREAT TDP), a government-led initiative focused on landscape-level conservation, sustainable resource use, and economic diversification through green growth strategies. Through NCA, the program will promote sustainable land-use planning and ecosystem-based approaches to rural livelihoods, ensuring that wildlife conservation brings tangible benefits for local communities. There is scope for strengthening Zambia's ability to attract climate finance, using protected area data to support green bond issuances and conservation investment opportunities. The path forward is clear! As Zambia advances its Natural Capital Accounting framework, the Wildlife and Protected Areas Accounts will serve as a cornerstone of sustainable and inclusive conservation planning. Through leveraging partnerships with WWF, the World Bank, and government institutions, the program is ensuring that wildlife, biodiversity, and ecosystem services are recognized as key assets in national development. The next steps will include finalizing the updated WPAA sometime later in 2025, conducting technical training sessions, and integrating findings into economic models and decision-making platforms. Through these efforts, Zambia is positioning itself as a regional leader in sustainable environmental governance, where conservation and economic growth for inclusive development go hand in hand. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The World Bank Group.
Zawya
05-03-2025
- Health
- Zawya
Zambia: Mining in Toxic Lead Waste Poisons Children
In the Zambian city of Kabwe, children suffer severe health effects due to lead poisoning because of extreme pollution from the toxic lead waste of a former mine. Zambia's government is facilitating new hazardous lead and zinc mining and processing of the toxic waste, posing major additional health risks to children. The Zambian government should suspend operations, revoke licenses of companies involved in the hazardous activities, and embark on a full clean-up of Kabwe's lead waste. Zambia 's government is facilitating hazardous mining and processing of toxic lead waste in the city of Kabwe that poses major health risks to children, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. These business activities add to the harm faced by Kabwe residents, who have been exposed to toxic lead for decades from a former lead and zinc mine. The 67-page report, ' Poisonous Profit: Lead Waste Mining and Children's Right to a Healthy Environment in Kabwe, Zambia,' documents the Zambian government's issuance of mining and processing licenses for South African, Chinese, and local businesses and its failure to intervene against blatant violations of Zambian environmental and mining law by several mining and processing companies. 'The Zambian government should be protecting people from highly hazardous activities, not enabling them,' said Juliane Kippenberg, associate children's rights director at Human Rights Watch. 'Companies are profiting in Kabwe from mining, removing, and processing lead waste at the expense of children's health.' Human Rights Watch interviewed miners and community members in Kabwe and carried out open-source research and geospatial analysis. Human Rights Watch wrote to the government and 16 companies requesting information and received responses from the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment, the South African company Jubilee Metals Group, and a local businessman. Lead is a highly toxic metal and is particularly harmful to children. It can result in coma and death, as well as intellectual disability and ill-health. During pregnancy, it can result in miscarriage and other complications. Researchers estimate that over 95 percent of children living near the former mine in Kabwe have elevated blood lead levels, and about half of them urgently require medical treatment. Businesses have conducted or facilitated hazardous mining and processing to extract zinc, lead, or other minerals in lead-contaminated waste around Kabwe's former mine area between 2022 and late 2024. Companies have removed significant amounts of waste from the mine and placed open piles across Kabwe, putting the health of residents further at risk. 'The waste piles across Kabwe are very concerning,' said an 18-year-old activist. 'Number one, because children tend to play around them or on top of them. Also, those mountains of waste are taken to other places in Kabwe – they are not sealed off from the public, and this makes those areas toxic, too.' Small-scale and artisanal miners have mined lead, zinc, and other minerals on the concession of Jubilee Metals' subsidiary, Enviro Processing Limited (EPL), which has a mining license for much of the former Kabwe mine area. Miners said that security guards at the site had allowed them to enter, though Jubilee Metals denies this. Hazardous artisanal mining in lead waste has also taken place at a nearby area controlled by a local politician. Miners said that they sometimes sold mined material to the Chinese processing companies Datong Industries, Chengde Mining, and Superdeal Investments. In mid-2023, businesses and individuals began to remove large amounts of waste from the EPL concession by truck and to transport it to other parts of Kabwe. Several waste piles were placed outside the premises of processing companies. Satellite imagery analysis revealed that by January 2024, nine waste piles were visible. Several sources said that Kabwe Kamukuba Small Scale Mining Cooperative Society, a local cooperative involved in removing the waste in 2023, was connected to ruling party leaders who may have financially benefitted. The waste removal, which Jubilee Metals described as trespassing and theft, continued through 2024. Globally, zinc and lead are highly sought-after metals, including for the world's urgently needed fossil fuel phaseout and transition to renewable energy. The Zambian government has designated zinc and lead in Kabwe as 'critical minerals' needed for the global energy transition. The Zambian government has not done enough to enforce mining, environmental, and labor regulations, Human Rights Watch said. Under Zambian law, the government has the authority to sanction companies because of an 'unsafe working environment' or 'uncontrollable pollution.' The government, to Human Rights Watch's knowledge, has not taken such steps against businesses involved in the hazardous mining, removing, and processing of lead waste in Kabwe. The Zambia Environmental Management Agency has not published these businesses' environmental impact assessments, nor has it used its authority to suspend operations where they violate environmental law. Small-scale and artisanal miners eke out a living by digging for minerals in the waste piles. Several women miners told Human Rights Watch that they take their children to work because they need the income. One is a 32-year-old mother who took her son to work until he developed severe memory problems at age fifteen. She told Human Rights Watch: 'We are constantly living in fear because it is not a safe area … [but] it is the only way I can sustain my children.… I would love a different job.' Kabwe's mine was opened during the British colonial period and closed in 1994, leaving an estimated 6.4 million tons of uncovered lead waste dumps. Since then, lead has contaminated residential areas, exposing up to 200,000 people. In 2020, lawyers filed a class action lawsuit in a South African court against the mining company Anglo American for its alleged role—contested by the company—in the Kabwe mine from 1925 to 1974, seeking compensation, a lead-screening system for affected children and women, and remediation of the area. The court dismissed the case, but claimants have said they will appeal the decision. While the Zambian government has taken some measures to mitigate Kabwe's lead contamination through the World Bank-funded Zambia Mining and Environmental Remediation and Improvement Project, it has failed to clean up the source of contamination. The government has recognized the need for a broader cleanup but has seemingly done little to put words into action. President Hakainde Hichilema has twice—in March 2022 and April 2024 —announced the creation of a government committee to address the contamination, but no committee has been set up. The Zambian government should suspend operations and revoke licenses of companies involved in the hazardous mining, removal, and processing of lead-bearing waste in Kabwe, Human Rights Watch said. It should conduct a comprehensive program to provide a remedy for the former lead mine and its waste in close consultation with affected communities, civil society, and experts. To fund this effort, the Zambian government should seek technical and financial support from donor agencies and companies responsible for the pollution. 'The Zambian government should prioritize children's health over mining profit,' Kippenberg said. 'Only comprehensive remediation of the mine waste can protect children and future generations in Kabwe from toxic lead.' Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).
