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Mines to be Cleared for Thousands of Migrating Elephants
An ambitious project to clear deadly land mines from a wildlife sanctuary in southern Africa is being launched today in a bid to give thousands of elephants and local villagers new hope. The initiative, backed by the California based 'Roots of Peace', underlines that land mines are an environmental as well as a humanitarian concern. It was announced during the Nairobi Summit for a Mine-Free World taking place at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The one million US dollar project initially aims to clear mines, sown during the Angolan civil war, to help restore an ancient elephant migration route linking Botswana with Zambia and Angola. It is part of a wider plan aimed at creating a vast transfrontier conservation area which is being supported by the governments of Switzerland and the United States. An estimated 120,000 elephants, whose numbers are growing at five per cent annually would be able to move north into Angola and Zambia if the mines were cleared. The high, artificial, number of animals has triggered an environmental disaster with serious damage to the woody vegetation in the Chobe National Park and adjacent areas. The elephants are also coming into increasing conflict with villagers because of the damage they are causing to crops and the daily threats to human life. Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's Executive Director, said: "Land mines are among the horrendous legacies of war that play their deadly role in perpetuating poverty. The direct threat to people from these seeds of misery must be our first concern but it is clear that the environment, upon which local people depend for items such as food, shelter and natural medicines suffers, too". "Land mines effectively bar people from productive land forcing them to clear forests and other precious areas for agriculture with consequences for the fertility of soils, accelerated land degradation and loss of wildlife. We need more initiatives like this Roots of Peace and Conservation International project in Angola that not only remove these discarded weapons but replace them with the chance for local people to earn a sustainable livelihood," he said. Angola, which suffered decades three decades of civil war which finally came to an end in December 2002, is one of if not the most mined countries in the world with over 2,200 known sites harbouring mines or unexploded ordnance. Dr John Hanks, a consultant with Conservation International which has submitted the project to Roots of Peace for funding, said the de-mining will "allow these animals access to Zambia and back into Angola enabling them to follow ancient elephant migration routes, presently barred by the presence of the land mines". "If this option is not followed, Botswana is faced with the stark reality of shooting and killing up to 60,000 elephants over the next few years," he added. The project, which focuses initially on a 150 square kilometre area of the Luiana Partial Reserve in south eastern Angola, was launched during the Nairobi summit where delegates are reviewing progress under the seven year-old Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. Heidi Kühn, Founder and President of Roots of Peace, said they were "waging peace on the most heavily mined country in Africa". She said restoring the migration routes by de-mining the reserve also offered the prospect of creating local jobs and much needed income for the people there. There are very few ecotourism initiatives in Angola, mainly because of the land mines. Restoring this area is part of a bigger plan to create a large transboundary park known as the Okavango/Upper Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area which will stretch from Zimbabwe through Botswana, Namibia, Angola and Zambia. "Once completed it would be the largest continuous wilderness, wetland and wildlife area in southern Africa with significant tourism potential and revenue-raising prospects for local people," said Ms Kühn, whose San Rafael, California-based, organization has established a track record on raising funds for de-mining projects in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Croatia and Iraq. Roots of Peace, which works with bodies including the UNEP, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Mine Action Service and the UK-based Mine Advisory Group, is also developing agricultural projects in de-mined areas. In Afghanistan, for example, the de-mined areas have been restored into grape growing fields and in Cambodia, the once deadly soils are now being used to cultivate rice. "Together we have planted rice in Cambodia, grapes in Afghanistan, orchards in Croatia and wheat in Iraq converting 'swords into plough shares' in war torn countries," said Ms Kühn. UNEP, which has a Post Conflict Assessment Unit based in Geneva, has carried out studies in several war-torn countries and regions including the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq. It recently conducted a post conflict assessment of Liberia and has received similar requests from other African countries including Angola. Henrik Slotte of the Unit said: " Mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO's) have been problem in many areas where UNEP-PCAU has been working such as Afghanistan, in Kosovo, in Serbia-Montenegro, in Bosnia-Hertzegovina and in Iraq". "In addition to immediate risks for the local population and returning refugees after the conflicts, mines and UXO's are also posing a threat to the wildlife and to the use of nature protection areas such as National Parks and wildlife reserves," he added. For more information on Roots of Peace please contact Heidi Kühn on Tel: 1 415 455 8884, Mobile: 1 415 948 9696 or E-mail: heidi@rootsofpeace.org Roots of Peace web site www.rootsofpeace.org At UNEP please contact Eric Falt, UNEP Spokesperson and Director of the Division of Communications and Public Information: Tel.: 254-(0)20-623292, Mobile: +254-(0)733-682656, E-mail: eric.falt@unep.org, or Nick Nuttall, UNEP Head of Media, on Tel: 254-(0)20-623084, Mobile: 254-(0)733-632755, E-mail: nick.nuttall@unep.org Maps of the area to be demined can be found at www.unep.org At Conservation International contact Leo Braack, Director: Southern Africa Transfrontier Conservation Areas Unit, +27 (0)21 851 4665; Cell: +27 (0)82 808 9659 Fax: +27 (0)21 851 4669 or E-mail l.braack@conservation.org UNEP News Release 2004/51
Nick Nuttall, Tel: 254 20 623084
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