Stop the Destruction & Deforestation of Kafinda GMA – Public Hearing on 22 October
For over 2 years the Kasanka Trust has been working closely with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife to try and stop the illegal deforestation and unlawful developments just a stone’s throw from the borders of Kasanka National Park.
In July 2019 it was found that Lake Agro, a subsidiary of the Tanzanian owned Lake Group, had illegally occupied land in the adjacent Kafinda GMA, having cleared 160 hectares of pristine forest and set up two centre pivot cycles for agricultural use. The following month the Department of Forestry issued a stop order, which was ignored.
Since this time, a further three stop orders have been issued by the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism and Arts and the Director of the DNPW. All have been ignored. Hundreds more acres of forest have been cleared for cattle farming and arable crops, with soya beans and maize even having been planted. Lake Agro did meet with the DNPW in March 2020, and were given permission to harvest their crops, but to then cease any further activities. This agreement was ignored and deforestation continued.
In May 2021, Lake Agro submitted an Environmental and Social Impact Statement (ESIS) to the Zambian Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA). They were requesting permission for a commercial agriculture development over a 7,000 hectare footprint – 3,000 hectare of arable land plus associated infrastructure, within the protected GMA and less than 3kms from Kasanka National Park. Their report failed to mention that they had already cleared hundreds of hectares of pristine forest or that they had already started commercial farming.
The company was also requesting to take water from the Luwombwa River, which flows into the west of the park. In dry season, Lake Agro acknowledged they will take up to 90% of the river water for their own commercial use, leaving just a trickle to flow into the park.
To date, Lake Agro have had no permission to deforest prime wilderness areas, bring in cattle or plant crops in the protected GMA. They have ignored numerous stop orders from Government. Their ESIS Report ‘forgets’ to mention Kasanka National Park’s proximity to their development, or the environment and wildlife, including the world famous bat migration which will be destroyed, or the local community’s dependence on the river that this Tanzanian company wishes to drain.
ZEMA is holding a Public Hearing on 22 October 2021. It is your chance to help save these rich, biodiverse and sacred protected areas.
You can download and read Lake Agro’s ESIS Report on ZEMA’s website. For further information about Kasanka National Park and the damage to the Kafinda GMA, with a timeline of events leading up to next week’s public hearing, then check out www.kasanka.org and the Kasanka Trust’s Facebook Page