Conservationists in Zimbabwe are fighting a development approved for the Monavale Wetland, a protected Ramsar site vital to Harare's water supply. The Monavale Trust, represented by George Makings, has filed an appeal against the country's Environmental Management Authority and its director general. Other parties named in the appeal include the Environment Minister, Milblue Investments, and the City of Harare. The group wants a court to cancel an environmental certificate issued for the project.
Their legal challenge claims the environmental impact assessment was fundamentally flawed and illegal. They argue the report fails to properly describe the planned golf course, spa, gym, and other structures. The document also allegedly misleads by placing buildings outside the wetland on paper while showing them inside it on maps. The trust points out that the exact land parcel for the development cannot even be verified on official surveys. They state the assessment ignores the severe damage from cutting off a restored section of the wetland, a key biodiversity hotspot where two streams meet. Potential impacts on downstream water delivery and flooding along the Marimba River were also not addressed.
The trustees emphasize that the government's own policy mandates wetland protection and restoration, not commercial development. They call the approval unreasonable, given the area's international Ramsar designation, warning of national embarrassment if convention officials discover the construction. The Monavale Wetland is a globally recognized birding area supporting many species, like the striped crake and Streaky-breasted flufftail, which rely entirely on this fragile habitat for survival.
Their legal challenge claims the environmental impact assessment was fundamentally flawed and illegal. They argue the report fails to properly describe the planned golf course, spa, gym, and other structures. The document also allegedly misleads by placing buildings outside the wetland on paper while showing them inside it on maps. The trust points out that the exact land parcel for the development cannot even be verified on official surveys. They state the assessment ignores the severe damage from cutting off a restored section of the wetland, a key biodiversity hotspot where two streams meet. Potential impacts on downstream water delivery and flooding along the Marimba River were also not addressed.
The trustees emphasize that the government's own policy mandates wetland protection and restoration, not commercial development. They call the approval unreasonable, given the area's international Ramsar designation, warning of national embarrassment if convention officials discover the construction. The Monavale Wetland is a globally recognized birding area supporting many species, like the striped crake and Streaky-breasted flufftail, which rely entirely on this fragile habitat for survival.
