|
Kevin
D'Souza
Contents:
1. BBC article
2. Stoke Sentinel article of 12
April 2003-04-16.
3. Wardell Amstrong News.
Friday, 11 April, 2003.
Mining plan to save gorillas.
A
mining expert from Nantwich may have come up with a way
of saving a colony of African gorillas from extinction.
Kevin
D'Souza, who works for Stoke-on-Trent firm Wardell Armstrong,
has come up with a plan to mine a rare mineral in the Republic
of Congo which previously has had a catastrophic effect
on the gorillas.
There
were originally 8,000 lowland gorillas in the country's
Kahuzi Biega National National Park.
However
there are now only 800 left partly because the local people
are mining the rare mineral tantalum in the park.
Environment
protected
The
mineral is an essential part of mobile phones and other
electrical equipment, but its extraction has devastated
the gorilla's habitat.
Mr D'Souza
has just returned from a two week trip to the country funded
by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.
He has
drawn up a plan which allows mining on the fringes of the
national park but which protects the environment.
He is
hoping his plan can be put into practice to prevent the
gorilla population declining further.
Saturday,
12 April, 2003.
KEVIN'S
ANIMAL RESCUE
By
MICHELLE GILLIES
A Mining expert
has returned home from an Indiana Jones-style mission to
help save a colony of Congo gorillas from
extinction. Kevin D'Souza travelled by plane, truck and
boat to see the terrible conditions in the Congo's Kahuzi
Biega National Park, a vast rainforest disputed by warring
army and militia factions.
During
his two-week visit, Kevin, who lives in Crewe, witnessed
first hand the results of poaching when park rangers showed
him gorilla skulls and a room filled with the skulls of
elephants.
Now
back at work as principal mining engineer at Newcastle-based
consultants Wardell Armstrong, Kevin is drawing up plans
to help protect the devastated gorilla colony from being
wiped out.
He said:
"The park is now largely in the hands of military groups
and its fragile ecosystem is being destroyed. As well as
the rainforest disappearing, both the elephant and gorilla
populations are being decimated by poachers. There were
originally 8,000 gorillas in the park, but it's believed
90 per cent of those have been killed and only two of the
250 elephants remain."
With
war still taking its toll on the Congo, Kevin's visit was
not without risks, especially when his car broke down in
rebel-held territory.
He said:
"There were soldiers everywhere and most of the park
is a no-go zone for foreign visitors because of the threats
from militia groups.
"I
wasn't frightened, but I was apprehensive at times - especially
when we were stranded for at least an hour in rebel-held
territory. Luckily we didn't attract attention."
As well
as the civil war that has enveloped the African country,
people living in the national park can no longer farm for
food and have turned to illegal mining to survive.
Kevin,
who is an international authority on small-scale mining,
was asked by the world famous Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund to
undertake a study of mining for the rare mineral tantalum
in the park.
Demand
for tantalum - used in electrical equipment including game
consoles and mobile phones - has soared, prompting thousands
of people to go digging for it.
"It's
a tragedy," said Kevin. "Destitute people feel
they have no alternative but to dig for tantalum and then
smuggle it out of the park.
"But
at the same time they are destroying the natural habitat."
Kevin,
who travelled to Bukavu in the east of the Congo, will go
to South Africa in July for a special conference on ways
to protect the Congo gorillas.
He said:
"Any plan to protect the gorillas must hinge on providing
a sustainable future for the local people, who need help
to return to farming and fishing.
"Health
and social problems such and child labour and the impact
of HIV and AIDS also need to be tackled."
Wardell Armstrong expert gives keynote speech at UN seminar
 |
Wardell
Armstrong principal mining engineer Kevin D’Souza
was keynote speaker at a seminar called by the United
Nations to address the challenges of Africa’s smallest
mining operations.
A renewed commitment to alleviate poverty and raise
standards in the artisanal and small scale mining (ASM)
sector in Africa was agreed when senior representatives
from around twenty countries and aid agencies, including
the UN, the World Bank and the UK’s Department
for International Development (DFID), met in Yaoundé,
Cameroon. |
|
Hosted
by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
(UNESDA) and the UN Economic Commission for Africa
(UNECA), the week-long seminar produced a series of
policy statements and a scheduled action plan aiming
which to raise the profile of ASM in the poverty reduction
process, tackle some of its most pressing needs and
set in motion a continuing debate the sector’s
future.
Ranging
from lone operators panning for gold and precious
stones to semi-mechanised operations producing a wide
variety of minerals for mainly local markets, the
ASM sector in Africa directly employs around four
million people, with perhaps another 20 million dependant
upon it.
Plagued
by under-investment, health and safety risks, environmental
problems and low productivity, the sector is nevertheless
growing rapidly, Kevin D’Souza, told the gathering.
Increasing numbers were turning to mining as a last
resort through poverty, civil unrest and natural disaster,
and thousands had been drawn into ‘rushes’
for gold, gemstones and other valuable minerals. “The
worrying fact is that many experts claim that the
number of people seeking to work in this sector in
many parts of Africa is expected to triple over the
next ten years,” he said.
“ASM often provides the only means of obtaining
income for many poor Africans in remote rural areas
who have few employment alternatives,” Kevin
continued. “Nonetheless, the sector has the potential
to economically empower disadvantaged and vulnerable
groups and contribute to national poverty reduction
efforts.”
However
ASM communities were caught in a poverty trap, he
continued. “Crude and inefficient mining and
processing led to low productivity, low revenues and,
in turn, a lack of funds to improve mining techniques
whilst living in a very vulnerable environment”.
This negative circle had to be broken if the sector
was to be helped in Africa and across the globe.
Negative
views of the sector were fostered by wide-ranging
concerns. These included child labour, gender inequality,
environmental damage, poor health and safety, the
spread of sexually-transmitted diseases and the use
of ASM revenue to finance conflicts. In addition,
ASM had gained little of lasting value from donor
agencies as millions of dollars in aid had not been
effectively or efficiently utilised.
“There is now an urgent need to take into account
the existing socio-economic system and consider how
ASM can best contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable
development,” Kevin told the seminar. “Future
assistance projects must find better ways of integrating
miners into the rest of the economy.”
After examining case studies from Ghana, Tanzania,
Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique,
Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Togo, Chad,
Burkina Faso, Guinea, Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial
Guinea and Gabon, the seminar also focused on best
practice in areas ranging from marketing and finance
to promoting co-operation between large and small
scale mining.
Speaking after the event, Kevin D’Souza said
the seminar was hopefully the start of a continuing
communication and real action on the issues and challenges
of the artisanal and small scale mining sector in
Africa.
“One
of the key conclusions of the seminar was that we
have got to prioritise on mainstreaming ASM issues
in the aid process. It is vital that each country
includes the sector in its Poverty Reduction Strategy
Papers. This is the only way they will be able to
leverage development money to assist these activities
in becoming sustainable livelihoods,” he said.
“Individual
governments must be lobbied on the issue, but this
will be a particular challenge in some countries where
this form of mining is a marginal, and in some cases,
an illegal activity.”
Delegates
agreed to the establishment of a Yaoundé communication
network, a programme of regular meetings and to the
dissemination of best practice on a pan-African basis.
Reflecting the growing HIV and AIDS problem within
mining camps, it was also agreed to establish an inter-agency
working group on this issue in conjunction with UNAIDS.
|
|
