• This came after the CSOs launched a hard-hitting social media campaign dubbed “SaveZambeziSafeZambezi.
• The campaign reached over 1.2-million people around the world in a period of six months.
• Sustainable management of this resource is crucial in securing the futures of over 250 million people in the broader region.

A Coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) has disclosed that over 50, 000 people globally have signed a petition to halt a controversial open-pit copper mine planned in the Lower Zambezi National Park, highlighting widespread public outrage and concern at the development of the mine.
According to a statement issued by the Coalition, this came after the CSOs launched a hard-hitting social media campaign dubbed “SaveZambeziSafeZambezi” to raise awareness of the issue, adding that the campaign reached over 1.2-million people around the world in a period of six months.
“The petition, launched by a large coalition of CSOs, traditional leaders, artists, safari operators and other stakeholders, has been viewed by more than 760, 000 people globally and shared more than 28, 000 times,” the statement reads.
It added that the Lower Zambezi National Park is an integral part of the wider Zambezi basin, which is the most significant shared resource that contributes to the economic, environmental, and social development of southern Africa.
“Sustainable management of this resource is crucial in securing the futures of over 250 million people in the broader region that depend on it. Tourism establishments in the park and surrounding areas employ more than 1 000 local people, generating a local wage bill of $4 million annually that indirectly supports thousands more people at a local community level.”
The Coalition has reiterated its call on all Zambians, and everyone who cares about the future of the lower Zambezi National Park, to sign the petition to halt the Kangaluwi mine.
In 2021, Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) approved a highly controversial Environmental Impact Study, opening the way for the mine to go ahead and the CSO Coalition is concerned that if the mine goes ahead, it will not only risk contaminating water for communities in Zambia and Zimbabwe but for the whole Zambezi delta, potentially destroying farming and fishing livelihoods and one of the largest tourism destinations for Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.
“River pollution caused by the mine could threaten the Zambezi Rivers 2, 000-ton subsistence fishery, which directly provides food and protein security to 20, 000 people along the river’s banks. Eco-tourism in the area depends largely on the renewable wildlife and habitat resources and contributes significantly to the local and national economies around the Lower Zambezi National Park,” it stated.