Court case looms over tin mining vs endangered rhinos
A group of critically endangered black rhinos is being protected until 6 March to peacefully roam through Sorris Sorris, Uibasen Twyfelfontein and Doro !Nawas conservancies – before court case to determine whether mining activities can proceed in the area resumes.
Acting High Court Judge Anne-Doris Hans-Kaumbi issued an order last Tuesday that the legal proceedings regarding planned open-pit tin mining in the area will continue in March.
As such, interdicts against further development of any new mining activities in the area remain in effect.
The three conservation areas, along with Ultimate Safaris, filed the lawsuit against government and the tin miners last year and successfully obtained the interdicts.
“The review application is now at the point where the applicants must submit amended notices and sworn affidavits by 25 February,” said Tristan Cowley, managing director of Ultimate Safaris.
In this legal application, the court is reviewing the procedure followed in issuing environmental clearance certificates and mining licenses to the respective prospective tin mining developers, Ottilie Ndimulunde and Timoteus Mashuna.
Communities 'must benefit'
Uibasen Twyfelfontein and Doro !Nawas enjoy the support of the ≠Aodoman Traditional Authority, but recently, Chief Zacharias Seibeb of the Daure Daman Traditional Authority, which is responsible for Sorris Sorris, expressed his dissatisfaction with the court challenge.
He claimed that neither the mining investors nor the tourism investors had approached him, despite a request to do so.
"The community must benefit from natural resources. These two sectors must find a way to coexist," he said.
He further emphasised that he is merely a custodian and that the ministries responsible for the environment and mining have the authority to issue certificates and licenses without his consent.
Ultimate Safaris wrote to Seibeb earlier this month, expressing their dissatisfaction with a public letter Seibeb shared with the media.
Ultimate Safaris believes the Daure Daman also benefits from nearly N$3 million paid to the involved traditional authorities last year and that court proceedings render any meetings futile.
Mining, rhinos don't mix
Cowley recently explained to Namibian Sun's sister publication, Republikein, why the rhinos could not coexist with the mining operations.
"This has already been scientifically proven by a study conducted by Save the Rhino for the Ministry of the Environment. In a similar scenario in the Huab conservation area, it was shown that the noise and gunfire from the open-pit copper mine drove the desert-adapted rhinos away," he said.
"The rhinos have poor vision and rely on sound and smell, which makes them very skittish. This is a very sensitive area, and without rhinos, there will be no tourism," he said.
"It is a significant risk because the rhinos fleeing will invade inhabited communal areas, causing conflict or escape into the desert where a lack of water could mean their end. Although they are adapted, their home ranges are where there are natural water sources."
According to him, a growing population of rhinos, which makes sustainable tourism activities possible and includes and benefits local communities, is at stake.
Court battle
Legal proceedings related to the mining activities have been ongoing since August of last year, starting with a dispute over access roads to the mine claims within the conservation area.
Before the suspension of mining activities in the area at the end of November, 20 employees had already been deployed, with potential job opportunities for around 150 at the mine.
International tin prices are expected to rise, and the use of the existing processing capacity at Uis is believed to significantly reduce input costs.
– [email protected]
Acting High Court Judge Anne-Doris Hans-Kaumbi issued an order last Tuesday that the legal proceedings regarding planned open-pit tin mining in the area will continue in March.
As such, interdicts against further development of any new mining activities in the area remain in effect.
The three conservation areas, along with Ultimate Safaris, filed the lawsuit against government and the tin miners last year and successfully obtained the interdicts.
“The review application is now at the point where the applicants must submit amended notices and sworn affidavits by 25 February,” said Tristan Cowley, managing director of Ultimate Safaris.
In this legal application, the court is reviewing the procedure followed in issuing environmental clearance certificates and mining licenses to the respective prospective tin mining developers, Ottilie Ndimulunde and Timoteus Mashuna.
Communities 'must benefit'
Uibasen Twyfelfontein and Doro !Nawas enjoy the support of the ≠Aodoman Traditional Authority, but recently, Chief Zacharias Seibeb of the Daure Daman Traditional Authority, which is responsible for Sorris Sorris, expressed his dissatisfaction with the court challenge.
He claimed that neither the mining investors nor the tourism investors had approached him, despite a request to do so.
"The community must benefit from natural resources. These two sectors must find a way to coexist," he said.
He further emphasised that he is merely a custodian and that the ministries responsible for the environment and mining have the authority to issue certificates and licenses without his consent.
Ultimate Safaris wrote to Seibeb earlier this month, expressing their dissatisfaction with a public letter Seibeb shared with the media.
Ultimate Safaris believes the Daure Daman also benefits from nearly N$3 million paid to the involved traditional authorities last year and that court proceedings render any meetings futile.
Mining, rhinos don't mix
Cowley recently explained to Namibian Sun's sister publication, Republikein, why the rhinos could not coexist with the mining operations.
"This has already been scientifically proven by a study conducted by Save the Rhino for the Ministry of the Environment. In a similar scenario in the Huab conservation area, it was shown that the noise and gunfire from the open-pit copper mine drove the desert-adapted rhinos away," he said.
"The rhinos have poor vision and rely on sound and smell, which makes them very skittish. This is a very sensitive area, and without rhinos, there will be no tourism," he said.
"It is a significant risk because the rhinos fleeing will invade inhabited communal areas, causing conflict or escape into the desert where a lack of water could mean their end. Although they are adapted, their home ranges are where there are natural water sources."
According to him, a growing population of rhinos, which makes sustainable tourism activities possible and includes and benefits local communities, is at stake.
Court battle
Legal proceedings related to the mining activities have been ongoing since August of last year, starting with a dispute over access roads to the mine claims within the conservation area.
Before the suspension of mining activities in the area at the end of November, 20 employees had already been deployed, with potential job opportunities for around 150 at the mine.
International tin prices are expected to rise, and the use of the existing processing capacity at Uis is believed to significantly reduce input costs.
– [email protected]
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