The Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, home to baobabs and other protected trees, faces a bleak future with the proposed MMSEZ development. Picture: Living Limpopo
South Africa’s Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO-designated sanctuary renowned for its rich biodiversity, is now under immediate threat as developers prepare to clear more than 125,000 hectares of indigenous vegetation for the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) project.
This ambitious coal-powered industrial development is expected to strip away protected flora, including over 600,000 trees, sparking intense opposition from conservationists and local communities.
Environmental records reveal that the MMSEZ project will eliminate 658,058 protected trees, including an estimated 20,000 baobabs, South Africa’s iconic “tree of life.”
Recent documents obtained by the non-profit group Living Limpopo, with legal support from All Rise Attorneys for Climate and Environmental Justice, detail the two licences issued for protected tree removal at MMSEZ’s North Site.
This development, paired with ten planned open-cast coal mines, has led activists to denounce the project as environmentally unsustainable and a direct threat to South Africa’s climate goals.
Lauren Liebenberg of Living Limpopo condemned the project’s ecological impact, highlighting the loss of valuable natural habitats and the region’s broader environmental significance.
“The cumulative destruction of the region’s fragile ecosystem could set back biodiversity conservation efforts by decades, undermining national and global conservation goals,” she said.
Critics further argue that the MMSEZ Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), authorised in July 2022, vastly underestimated the number of protected trees at risk.
While the 2021 assessment cited 109,034 protected trees on the South Site, Living Limpopo’s findings suggest the true number is closer to 658,000, raising questions about the integrity of the EIA process.
Environmental attorney Kirsten Youens, representing Living Limpopo, stated, “These discrepancies not only threaten biodiversity but also erode public trust in environmental” governance.
Beyond ecological damage, the MMSEZ poses socio-economic risks, notably in water-scarce Limpopo Province. The development’s proposed mega-dam on the Limpopo River would divert up to 60% of the river’s annual flow, potentially impacting water availability across the region.
This project also jeopardises Limpopo’s long-term prospects for a sustainable, biodiversity-driven economy, which many believe offers a more inclusive economic future than extractive industries.
The pending legal battle, set for a High Court hearing on December 6, could determine the fate of the MMSEZ. Environmental groups and local stakeholders continue to campaign against the project, calling on South Africans to protect the Vhembe Biosphere’s unique natural heritage.
IOL