African Wildlife & Environment Issue 79

FAUNA, FLORA & WILDLIFE

in monetary terms, it is worth far more than mere money! During my term as National Director of Conservation for the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA), we were very instrumental in stopping the proposed dune mining on the Wild Coast, where the Xolobeni Heavy Minerals Sands Project proposed to mine the sand dunes along a 22km stretch of the Wild Coast for titanium products. The proposal was presented by a small Australian mining company, Mineral Commodities Ltd (MRC), and its local subsidiary, Transworld Energy and Minerals Resources (TEM). It became a highly contested process over a prolonged period, with the directly affected communities ultimately rejecting the proposal, with huge general public support. Recently, on 4 September 2020, the Pretoria High Court handed down a landmark judgment, confirming that mining-affected communities have the right to access information about the projects that impact them.The Centre for Applied Legal Studies

thorough Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), a decision was ratified by the Cabinet of the day to ban any industrial development in the area. The area was then proclaimed as the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, which now has World Heritage Site status, Recently there has been a renewed drive for dune mining on the southern boundary of iSimangaliso. Chief Executive Officer Sibusiso Bukhosini, who took up office in September last year, is very worried what effect this threat of proposed dune mining on the southern boundary could have on the park. He said that a company named Eyamakhosi Resources had submitted a proposal to mine vegetated dunes on the southern boundary of iSimangaliso for minerals. He said that the iSimangaliso Authority has objected to this proposal, stating that “it interferes with our outstanding universal values as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Once you tamper with the dunes, it is forever. If we lose our status, we lose our market.” Once again you cannot quantify a priceless natural asset like this

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