Save Mapungubwe

In July 2003, the Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape became South Africa's fifth World Heritage site and in May 2004 was officially named Mapungubwe National Park.

This treasured site is now under severe threat from an Australian company - Coal of Africa Limited (CoAL) – which was recently given the go ahead to begin construction of an opencast and underground coal mine. This is set to take place less than 6km from the borders of the Mapungubwe National Park and adjacent to the World Heritage Site.

The environmental integrity of the area in and around Mapungubwe will be irreversibly compromised for current and future generations, as it relates to the natural habitat, ecosystems, cultural heritage and related aspects of the environment.

Several leading non-governmental organisations including the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), the Peace Parks Foundation (PPF), the Association of Southern African Professional Archaeologists (ASAPA), the Mapungubwe Action Group (MAG), the Wilderness Foundation South Africa (the WFSA), the World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa (the WWF) and BirdLife South Africa (BLSA), have lodged an appeal against CoAL. Despite public and private sector objections (including the Departments of Environmental Affiars, Tourism, Water and South African National Parks), the Department of Minerals and Energy has granted a licence to proceed with the project.

However they cannot stand alone. The support of the public is an integral part of curbing future damage to our precious environment. The mining at Mapungubwe is the first of many such projects proposed, to this end Anglo Coal has already bought up large tracts of land in the area. We need your help to stand up against these mining companies and save our precious environment.

You can read more about this concerning issue at the Save Mapungubwe website.

Click here to add your name to the online petition, to join the Face Book Group, or to make a donation. Your voice counts!

Yours in conservation,

The Management of Mashatu Game Reserve.

www.mashatu.com | Tel: + 27 11 442 2267 | Fax: + 27 11 442 2318 | mashatu@malamala.com