Eddie Koch
SOUTH AFRICAN forestry giant Sappi says it will cut back the size of a controversial eucalyptus plantation planned for southern Mozambique in line with suggestions from an independent environmental study.
Natal University’s Institute of Natural Resources, commissioned to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) on the proposed forestry, presented its findings to the Mozambican government this week.
The study found the project would bring major social and economic impacts to the depressed region, injecting some R80-million into the local economy, but that rare wetlands and wild game would suffer in parts of the plantation
The major recommendation of the report is to reduce the proposed planted area. This will create a buffer of at least one kilometre between the forest and the Futi River in the west and will withdraw the plantations from coastal lakes in the east.
It also provides for the creation of natural corridors to allow for animal movement and migrations that will be obstructed by the
”We are quite comfortable with the idea of modifying and adapting the original proposal to ameliorate environmental sensitivities,” says a Sappi spokesman.
But environmentalists have slammed the entire project, saying it poses a serious threat to a variety of plant and animal species that occur nowhere else in the world.
The forest also clashes with an ambitious tourism scheme to build a large game reserve and network of lodges along Mozambique’s southern coastal zone.
The Mozambican government, presented with the fiercest environmental controversy the country has ever faced, is due to make a decision about the scheme early in the New Year.
The forest company, Mosa Florestal, is a joint venture between the Mozambican government, two Mozambican companies and Sappi Forests.