The controversial deal to merge De Beers’ west coast diamond mining operations and the struggling parastatal Alexkor may block the long-planned expansion of the Namaqualand national park, severely weakening efforts to protect a unique and vulnerable ecosystem.
Since the merger was announced in February, De Beers has kept mum about the implications for a draft agreement with SANParks to hand over land between the Groen and the Spoeg rivers, just south of Hondeklipbaai, for incorporation into the park. Scientists, government officials and conservation bodies now fear the plan could collapse.
They argue this would have worrying consequences for conservation in a globally recognised ‘biodiversity hotspotâ€, as well as damaging efforts to develop tourism in an impoverished region where a century of mining is winding down without any sustainable legacy.
The 30km stretch of land is the last substantial area of pristine coastline remaining between the Olifants River and the Namibian border. Along the 400km coast to the north, diamond mining and overgrazing have ravaged the arid and fragile ecosystems of Namaqualand, while to the south agriculture, industry and housing development girdle the coastal strip.
‘The succulent Karoo is one of 42 areas in the world that contain more than 1% of all plant species,†pointed out Sarah Frazee, director of the South African Hotspots programme at United States-based Conservation International. ‘It is the world’s only arid hotspot with the same diversity as the rainforest in the tropical Andes, while getting less than 2cm of rain a year.â€
SANParks officials believe the Groen-Spoeg land is a crucial component of the Namaqualand park. They have already bought numerous farms between the existing park and the coast to link the two areas, and conducted wide-ranging assessments of the social, economic and environmental consequences of park expansion. Conservation International provided $2-million for the purchases.
‘Both the existing park and the coastal component include areas in the highest irreplaceability category,†says a conservation planning report commissioned by SANParks. It adds that if the areas in question are not protected, conservation targets for the region ‘will never be metâ€.
‘Thus, both the existing park and the coastal component are in a sense ideally located from a conservation perspective,†the report concludes.
An official familiar with the planning process told the Mail & Guardian that the ideal was to have land stretching from the coast to the upland. ‘It allows species to move up and down, it gives them a chance to adjust to global climate change.â€
Integrating a coastal component would also extend the prime season for visiting the park beyond the two- to three-month spring flower season, into the summer, vastly increasing the economic potential of tourism.
Supporters of the proposed expansion say it would dovetail with a planned marine protected area, designed to help conserve threatened commercial fish stocks like hake.
Although De Beers verbally undertook, over 20 years of discussions, to hand over land to the park, negotiations appear to have stalled. Scientists, conservationists and parks officials said the process was in limbo and De Beers was stonewalling requests for information on the implications of the Alexkor deal.
SANParks would only say that the death of a key De Beers official in December had slowed progress. ‘As we understand it, De Beers is going through its own processes, we are constantly discussing the possibilities,†said SANParks spokesperson Wanda Mkutshulwa.
Privately however, people close to the negotiations say they are concerned that the merger will increase pressure to mine the land.
Two options have been discussed with De Beers, say insiders. The first is to hand over all the land in question and the second is to allow mining on two properties alongside the Spoeg before land is rehabilitated, and handed over to the park.
The second option would cut a swathe across the proposed corridor and might send a plume of sediment down to the estuary and into fish-spawning areas. But it is seen as a ‘better-than-nothing†alternative, and subject to written commitments that mining and rehabilitation would be in line with biodiversity best practice.
But Frazee and others in the conservation and tourism sectors are angry at being excluded from the process.
‘We want a binding commitment that conservation will be a stakeholder in this new company. There is a huge opportunity to make it a model site linked to black economic empowerment, tourism and international partnership. What would be really tragic is if small-scale mining delays the question of the long-term future of the area, while doing immense environmental damage.â€
De Beers did not respond to a request for comment.