NO to proposed Fuleni coal mine at iMfolozi

[Toko]

Say NO to Ibutho Coal and its Fuleni Anthracite Project!

Join us in saying a resounding NO to the desecration of the iMfolozi Wilderness Area by the proposed Fuleni coal mine just 40 metres from the boundary of this world-renowned Protected Area.
Ibutho Coal (Pty) Ltd has put in an application to mine coal on the southern boundary fence of the iMfolozi Wilderness Area, the first proclaimed wilderness in Africa. The Fuleni Anthracite Project is set to be given the green light on 6 June 2014 to open a coal mine that would desecrate the iMfolozi Wilderness Area for current and future generations. We must show Ibutho Coal and the SA government that the iMfolozi Wilderness Area is sacrosanct and that there is overwhelming world-wide opposition to proceeding with this mining application. We want uBuntu not Ibutho. We want humanity and compassion not a destructive polluting coal mine!!
The iMfolozi Wilderness Area, lies at the heart of the Zulu Kingdom and was sacred to the Zulu people in the time of Shaka. Itis also situated in the historic Hluhluwe-iMfolozi-Park (HIP), the oldest protected area in Africa, proclaimed in 1895, and the core of conservation in KwaZulu-Natal. It was home to the last remaining White Rhino in the 1890s and currently supports the densest concentration of rhino in the world but its rhino population is under constant threat of being slaughtered for rhino horn for the insatiable medicine trade in China and Vietnam. The mine will irreparably compromise the integrity of the wilderness area and make it easier for poachers to enter the park.
Since the proclamation of the iMfolozi Wilderness Area in 1958, many thousands of local and international visitors have shared the excitement of a wilderness trail and slept on the African soil, surrounded by the sounds of the African bush and walking along natural game trails, without any evidence of other humans. This will soon be replaced with the noise, lights and pollution of the Fuleni Mine - if we let iButho Coal get the green light to mine. It will also sabotage a nationally approved plan and a global strategy supporting links between wild places and sustainable livelihoods of neighbouring communities.
This irreplaceable gem is the place that forged the unique friendship between Dr Ian Player and Magqubu Ntombela. Ian Player, the famous conservationist who started the Dusi canoe marathon in 1951 and established the first wilderness areas in South Africa, is best known for saving the white rhino from extinction in the 1960s.
Magqubu Ntombela comes from a courageous line of Zulu warriors and became Ian Player’s greatest mentor. He is recognised and respected in KZN as an important role model for the youth, and his nearby homestead is much-visited by wilderness trailists.
South Africa has no shortage of mines but a unique wilderness area with such a rich history can NEVER be replaced.
HELP SAVE the iMfolozi Wilderness Area by saying NO to the Fuleni Coal Mine and YES to keeping Wilderness Areas sacred.

Link to AVAAZ Petition


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