The future of the Selous Game Reserve, a World Heritage Site and the largest wildlife park in Africa, is now at a stake. Its sustainability is being challenged by a mega hydro-power project at Stiegler’s Gorge inside the park as the government of Tanzania signed a contract regarding this for the country’s socio-economic development.
Bundestag, The German federal parliament, has raised concerns over the issue and its members had asked the German government to help Tanzania in finding alternative ways of generating electricity without harming the environment under the Selous Game Reserve ecosystem as it is the wildest and largest wildlife sanctuary in Africa.
Being a World Heritage Site, the Selous Game Reserve park covers an area of about 55,000 km2 and is one of the largest reserved areas in Africa. Mostly known for its elephants with a count of almost 110,000, it is also home to black rhinos and giraffes and other wildlife species. Added to this, the reserve has the biggest collection of crocodiles, hippos and buffaloes than any other wildlife park in the entire African continent.
Apart from the reserve, the 2,100 megawatt hydropower project at Stiegler’s Gorge will also put at risk the entire ecosystem of the Rufiji River, one of the major waterways of Africa. The river is the main source of many people’s farming and fishing activities. The mega hydropower project would entail cutting a lot of trees leading to unexplained aftermath of the surroundings.
Germany being totally against this Tanzanian hydro-power project, its members of opposition Free Democratic Party (FDP) have come up with a suggestion of producing electricity using natural gas which is profusely available in southern Tanzania, just outside the Selous ecosystem.
Answering all such resistances the Tanzanian President John Magufuli assured that, the project will help in protecting the Selous environment, on the contrary, since only three percent (3%) of the total area in the reserve will be used for Hydro-electric power generation and there will be no scarcity of drinking water for the wildlife. Rather the implementation of the project will help in reducing poaching in the area and there by the wildlife will be better maintained in the reserve than before.
The Tanzanian president further said in defense of the project that, Tanzania has chosen to go for hydroelectric power generation because it is cheaper and more sustainable for social and economic development of the nation. The mega project is one of Magufuli’s special priorities.
Reciprocating Magufuli’s words, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism released a statement, a few months back, saying that UNESCO has agreed to cooperate with Tanzania to ensure the project is environmentally safe. Progressing towards the work, the government has already signed up Egyptian firm Arab Contractors to build the huge dam at the Stiegler’s Gorge, a famous tourist destination in Selous Game Reserve.
