Harare, Zimbabwe – Not long ago, grass and flowers grew up in the wetland in Borrowdale. The herds of birds – including red and yellow bishops – were common here, and butterflies too.
“Everything, ants, figurines and flowers. People were walking to enjoy the tranquility of the place, ”explains Brian Foster Mawer, a resident of the village of Dandaro Retirment, who ends in the wetland.
The 79 -year -old man has lived here for more than two decades and has seen a large part of the wetland disappear. Over time, people have unearthed the expanses of the earth to cultivate corn, slowly degrading this natural flood pad and the vital water tank.
But the remaining wetland may not survive much longer. Viva Investments, a real estate investment company, aims to plant concrete in the heart of the wetland. Heavy vehicles have already started to pay building materials in this district west of Harare, while the company put the land to build 130 houses and 20 blocks of office.
This project, always at its beginnings, is only a broader example of a broader trend where the authorities approve large -scale construction projects on wetlands despite clear environmental warnings, explains Rueben Akili, director of the combination of the Harare Residents Association.
All this happens while Zimbabwe is preparing to welcome the Ramsar Convention on wetlands in July. This world summit is dedicated to the protection of the remaining wetlands in the world, but environmentalists say that the country loses its own at an alarming rate, and in many cases by questionable land agreements and ignoring environmental regulations.
“The city of Harare has been irresponsible in terms of land allowance. They allocated land anywhere, ”explains Robert Mutyasira, president of the Borrowdale Residents and Radipayers Association.
But the concern is deeper than one district and a construction project. In 2013, the Longcheng Plaza shopping center opened its doors at the top of a vital wetland along the Harare-Bulawayo motorway.
An analysis of Harare Wetlands Trust, using field surveys and Google Earth images, revealed that wetlands across Harare decreased by 50% between 2007 and 2019. The study was focused on 10 key wetlands of the head, including in Borrowdale. The organization attributes the loss of culture, the development of housing and the illegal regulations.
Wetlands act as natural sponges for rain. Because so many people have been destroyed, strong floods have become a standard in the suburbs of Harare de Budiro and Mabvuku.
The concern for the preservation of wetlands extends beyond Zimbabwe. Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, flows due to decades of destruction of wetlands. The crisis there is so bad that the government moves the national capital. In Brazil, massive developments eat in the Pantanal, the largest wetland in the world. And in Argentina, luxury projects of the Delta de Parana take control of this vital ecosystem. In fact, around 35% of wetlands in the world have disappeared since 1970.
In many of these cases, governments rush to contain the damage, if a little too late. But in Zimbabwe, the government contributes to destruction which, if it is uncontrolled, could lead to more serious floods and worse water shortages, according to environmentalists.
On paper, the country has solid environmental laws. Development on or near a wetland requires consultation with the environmental management agency, and construction should only occur after the approval of an evaluation of the environmental impact by the agency.
But the application is lax.
In the case of lively investments, Harare Wetlands Trust environmentalists in a 2021 report accuse the authorities of approving an evaluation of the environmental impact while ignoring the serious irregularities it contained. They allege that the vifot has included poor information on the exact site of the site in the evaluation they have submitted, in order to bypass the regulations. Although the project site is in a wetland, they say that the class assessment in an inaccurate manner as in a light industrial area in Tynwald, a different place.
The case has been under national spotlight for some time now. Several city officials have been arrested or charged with the land agreement, including Aaron Chigona, director of the environmental management agency. He was arrested in January 2024 and spent more than a year in pre -trial detention for his alleged role in the controversial field agreement. In March, the court released him without pursuit and he retained his role to the agency.
The agency was satisfied with the evaluation of the environmental impact of Vivaot, explains Amkela Sidange, director of education and advertising. The project will have a minimum impact on the wetland, she says. “(IT) includes a natural park in the area of wetlands, improving rather than harming it. The cluster houses will only occupy 5 hectares of non-Wetland land, ”she says.
When the Global Press Journal contacted the director general of Vivaot, Liangming Jin, he offered the journalist 200 US for “lunch”, which she refused. What he said later on the World Press Review contradicted information from the authorities.
First, Jin says that the company plans to build residential houses on 14 hectares of the land, unlike the 5 hectares mentioned by Sidange. The company will then build offices of offices on the rest. “I know the finest details of office plans in six months, because my architects are always designed,” he said.
VIVOT will implement several measures to minimize the impact on the environment, such as water canals, he says.
Jin says he bought the land from the city of Harare.
Mayor Jacob Mafume told Global Press newspaper that he is not aware of the particular viveot project, but says that it is aware that wetlands are sold illegally in the country.
“Sometimes this is not brought to our attention,” explains Mafume.
When problems are brought to their attention, he says that his office “will take care of the inversion if necessary or take care of the rectification of all the problems that have emanated from the authorization which has been granted.”
The justice system has not protected the country’s wetlands, explains Mutyasira, from the Borrowdale Residents Association. “We have not been successful in court.” When wetlands are private property, the problem becomes even more difficult to challenge, he adds. But higher penalties could help. “Even if the wetlands are private, this property should be removed,” he adds.
A solution could be to involve the community, explains Roger Fairie, founder of Greystone Nature Reserve, a wetland he maintains with other local residents. “You can’t do it by yourself,” he says. The real power, he adds, lies in helping people to understand how important wetlands are.
Sidange, of the environmental management agency, says that companies with approved projects should not see approval as a green light to degrade the environment. It is a commitment to them to protect it. Otherwise, the authorities could easily cancel or cancel certification for construction, she says.
Meanwhile, while the world is preparing to come together in Harare and discuss the protection of wetlands, the ground under this city disappears. The city does not provide water to many harare areas, while in many others, the water that arrives is contaminated. People like Mawer are counting on boreholes.
But even the drilling holes dry out, and a large construction project could suffocate what the groundwater remains.