9 Business Tuesday, October 13, 2020 Pandemic spurs illegal gold rush in Zimbabwe mountains Govt bans riverbed alluvial and riverbed mining on rivers CHIMANIMANI, Zimbabwe: Known for their been changed to protect his identity. rugged ranges, grassy plains and forest waterfalls, “We were given a target, we would sell about 40 the Chimanimani mountains in eastern Zimbabwe grams of gold per day,” he continued, explaining have long been a popular destination for tourists - that as the miners came back down the mountain, and gold miners hoping to strike it rich. Travel the rangers would take the gold and pay them in US restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19 have dollars. That was until August, when the military and kept the tourists away, although some attractions police were deployed to help the rangers evict the reopened last month. miners. “I had to run for my life,” Kwaramba said. But illegal mining has surged as miners take “They were firing at us. Some (miners) were injured advantage of the lack of visitors, leaving a trail of and others are missing.” environmental destruction in their wake, say Zimparks spokesman Tinashe Farawo said the researchers and activists. authority was looking into claims that the park’s “The waters are being polluted; the biodiversity rangers had a hand in the illegal gold mining. poisoned; endemic plants dug up (and) trampled; “We have heard such reports. We are currently animals and birds poached; (and) litter strewn all investigating the allegations,” he said in a phone over the mountains,” said Julia Pierini, head of interview. BirdLife Zimbabwe, a non-profit. “We are calling upon (everyone) to forward any Activists, industry experts and some of the min- evidence that our officers are involved. We want to ers themselves say rangers employed by the ensure we protect these forests for the benefit of Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management the future generations.” There is no official data on Authority (Zimparks) to protect Chimanimani the number of illegal gold miners in the Search and rescue operation at Cricket Mine in Kadoma, Zimbabwe where more than 23 illegal miners were National Park are involved in the illicit activity. Chimanimani Mountains, but authorities note that trapped underground and feared dead on February 15, 2019 in this file photo. — AFP “For the past couple of years, we have been see- around the country their ranks have risen in recent ing illegal gold miners in the mountains, but sudden- years. As Zimbabwe experiences its worst economic ly during lockdown we started to see hundreds of crisis in a decade, with crippling hyperinflation and Sacred places And now, say locals, they also have to endure the them,” said Collen Sibanda, vice chairman of the unemployment, young people are venturing into The latest census data shows about 135,000 ecological impacts of illegal mining. Pierini at BirdLife Chimanimani Tourist Association (CTA). illegal gold mining in a bid to earn a living. people live in the area around the Chimanimani Zimbabwe said the mountains are an important “Zimparks is recruiting people. They are organiz- Gold panning in Chimanimani is mostly small- Mountains, on the border of Zimbabwe and watershed area with ecologically sensitive wetlands ing these syndicates.” scale and informal, according to a 2016 research Mozambique. that provide most of the water used by communities Lenny Kwaramba told the Thomson Reuters paper by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in That population, made up of various indigenous in the valleys below. “With a changing climate, on the Foundation that he had been mining in the moun- London. The paper estimated that the output from communities, is still recovering from last year’s back of Cyclone Idai last year and drought conditions tains without a license since March. artisanal gold panning in the area from 2007 to 2011 Cyclone Idai, which caused $622 million worth of this year, mining in the Chimanimani Mountains rep- “I thought it was legal because we were working was between 600-to-900 kg per year, with less damage, mainly in Chimanimani and Chipinge dis- resents an ecological catastrophe,” she said in with the rangers,” said Kwaramba, whose name has than half of that amount being officially recorded. tricts, according to government officials. emailed comments. — Reuters Syria fires ravage livelihoods ahead of harvest China expects to TARTUS, Syria: Suhail Deeb was my entire life,” said Deeb, who had meet poverty eager to harvest his olives before inherited all his trees from his father. sweeping forest fires that ravaged The olive farmer, like all Syrians, has parts of Syria at the weekend left him been hit hard by a biting economic alleviation goal with nothing but charred trunks and crisis that has seen the Syrian pound LIANGSHAN, China: President Xi Jinping branches. plummet against the dollar. beamed down benevolently from a poster in “I used to have 100 trees, but now He was eagerly waiting for this the new flat of unemployed Jigu Gatie, provid- nothing is left,” said the 61-year-old season’s harvest which was to begin ed by the Chinese government as part of farmer at his blackened olive grove in this month so he could produce some efforts to tackle poverty nationwide. The the western province of Tartus. olive oil to sell in the market. “We TARTUS: A Syrian man inspects a scorched area in the aftermath of a forest fire posters urging residents to listen, follow and “Everything has turned to ashes,” he were depending heavily on this sea- which ravaged swathes of land in the countryside of the western city of Tartus, “be grateful” to China’s ruling Communist said, sadly snapping a soot-covered, son to compensate for our repeated on Sunday. Dozens of fires that ravaged parts of Syria and Lebanon in recent days Party were common in the homes of the new dead branch off a tree. losses,” he said. “The olives were ripe were brought under control, authorities in the two countries said. — AFP state housing project visited by Reuters in Blazes broke out Friday in the and large and, had it not been for the September during a government-organized provinces of Homs, Tartus and fires, we would be preparing now to conditions during the war,” he said. The fires across Syria did not only trip to the southwestern Sichuan province. Latakia, destroying over 9,000 harvest them.” “But the fires are of a different scale. hit agricultural lands but also residen- China vowed in 2013 to eradicate extreme hectares of agricultural and forested We are facing a real catastrophe.” Nine tial and industrial areas. According to rural poverty by the end of this year, and spent land, according to the UN Office for ‘Real catastrophe’ years of war have battered Syria’s OCHA, up to 25,000 people have 524 billion yuan ($77.17 billion) between 2016 the Coordination of Humanitarian OCHA estimates that the fires economy but the country has contin- been displaced as a result. and 2020 to that end, official data showed. Affairs (OCHA). The wildfires killed affected up to 140,000 people by ued to produce large quantities of olive On social media, users have been China’s economy was hit by the coronavirus three people in Latakia and displaced destroying or damaging homes and oil which is among its staple exports. posting photos of the many blazes pandemic early this year but has since seen a thousands across the three provinces, other assets, including agricultural The agriculture ministry had pre- with the Arabic hashtag “Syria is steady recovery. OCHA said. land. In the town of Mashta Al-Helu in dicted in August an olive crop harvest Burning.” Joseph Eid, the mayor of “Thanks to the party, thanks to the govern- Authorities on Sunday said that the Tartus, more than 65 farmers were of 850,000 tons this season-up from Mashta Al-Helu, assessed the damage ment, thanks to General Secretary Xi,” said fires had been brought under control. affected by the blaze, including Ali 665,000 the year before. Issa said he in the aftermath of the fires. Jigu, a member of the generally poor Yi ethnic A day later, smoke still rose from the Issa. Sitting on a rock, his back lean- was determined to replant what he He pointed to empty parks that minority. “I’m very satisfied.” With over 90 mil- hills around Latakia and Tartus, previ- ing against a burnt tree, Issa lamented lost, calling the olive tree both were crowded with families this time lion rural people lifted from extreme poverty ously covered with fields, groves and his losses, even though many of his “blessed and holy.” “We will replant last year. “The fires cause a lot of over the past seven years, the government says healthy forests. crops survived the blaze. not so that we can eat from them, but damage,” he told AFP. “The land will it is on track to achieve its 2020 goal. “I have never seen fires like this in “We have endured very difficult for our children,” he said. need years to recover.” —AFP But the success could falter if authorities shift priorities after declaring victory on rural poverty, analysts say. “Once poverty alleviation Millions of Indians is no longer a political priority, if funding from Nasdaq leads Wall the government and state-owned enterprises dries up, many will fall back into poverty,” said St higher on tech, to get Diwali loans Alfred Wu, associate professor at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore. to boost economy The government has said China will contin- stimulus hopes ue anti-poverty policies after 2020 but has yet to make an announcement.