VZCZCXRO1846
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHLS #1591/01 3210729
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 170729Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY LUSAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3541
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0088

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LUSAKA 001591 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: SENV EINV ZA
SUBJECT: Proposed Development Riles Conservationists 
 
Ref: A: Gaborone 1453; B: Gaborone 1446 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: A controversial, recently-published Environmental 
Impact Assessment (EIA) recommends approval of plans to develop a 
550 acre site in Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park.  The project 
developer, Legacy Holdings Zambia Limited (Legacy Holdings, funded 
the EIA, which must be approved by the Environmental Council of 
Zambia (ECZ).  The ECZ is currently soliciting public comments on 
the EIA.  Local traditional leaders favor the development, but 
environmental groups have threatened to seek an injunction against 
Legacy should the ECZ approve the plan and allow the project to move 
forward.  A court challenge would stand as an important test for the 
environmental movement and judicial independence in Zambia.  End 
Summary. 
 
Proposed Development 
-------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) A recently-released Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 
recommends for approval a proposal by Legacy Holdings (a local joint 
venture with the South Africa-based Legacy International Group) to 
build a large resort and conference center in Mosi-Oa-Tunya National 
Park.  The planned USD 200 million "Mosi-Oa-Tunya Hotel and Country 
Club Estate Project" will sit on a 550 acre site in the national 
park and will include two five-star hotels, an 18-hole golf course, 
a conference center and a marina on the Zambezi River above Victoria 
Falls.  Legacy predicts that the project will attract large numbers 
of tourists to Livingstone, resulting in new jobs and economic 
growth for the region.  The Environmental Council of Zambia is 
taking public comments on the EIA, which was funded by Legacy and 
prepared in accordance with terms of reference approved by the 
Council.  The comments will factor into the ECZ decision whether to 
approve the EIA, available on the internet at 
www.necz.org.zm/news/comments/eis-reports/leg acy.htm 
 
Conservationists Critical 
------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The proposed project has drawn criticism from local 
environmental and tourism groups.  A principal concern is that the 
project, which transects the national park, will block an important 
elephant migration corridor and will threaten the planned 
Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) transfrontier conservation area (ref A). 
Critics also contend that the project will jeopardize the UNESCO 
World Heritage status of Victoria Falls, which is also located 
within the national park.  Zambian media have reported that UNESCO 
is concerned that Legacy and the Zambian government are violating 
protocols for the management of the world heritage site.  UNESCO 
reportedly threatened to deregister the site should the project move 
forward. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Several environmental and tourism groups are considering 
filing a class action lawsuit to enjoin Legacy Holdings from 
pursuing the project, should the ECZ approve the EIA.  The groups 
claim that the ECZ-approved terms of reference for the EIA violate 
Zambian environmental protection laws.  Conservationists further 
claim that the plans for the project conflict with the Zambian 
Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) management plan, which calls for low 
density development in the area where Legacy seeks to build.  In 
meetings with Regional Environmental Hub Officer (REHO) and Poloff 
(Ref B), Wildlife and Conservation Society of Zambia President Adam 
Pope asserted that Legacy Holdings pressed the Zambian Wildlife 
Authority (ZAWA) to bend rules in order to get approval for its 
plan.  Because ZAWA does not receive sufficient funding in the GRZ 
budget, Pope said that the agency has a conflict of interest when it 
comes to approving projects that have the potential to provide it 
with significant revenue. 
 
Local Chiefs on Board 
--------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Despite the concerns voiced by conservationists, 
traditional leaders in the area say that they are more concerned 
about employment opportunities for their subjects than environmental 
issues.  Commenting on the elephant corridor, Senior Chief Mukuni 
was reported to have said he did not want the elephants passing 
through his chiefdom, which includes the site for the Legacy 
project, because "they are destroying our crops and killing our 
people."  Another local leader, Chief Musokotwane, said that Legacy 
had signed an agreement to employ 1,000 of his subjects. 
Musokotwane added that Legacy had signed similar agreements with 
Chief Mukuni and Chief Sekute, another local chief. 
 
Legacy Response 
--------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) J.J. Sikazwe, the Chairman of Legacy Holdings Zambia, 
confirmed to Poloff that Legacy Holdings agreed to pay ZAWA USD 9 
million as part of a Tourism Concession Agreement (TCA) to develop 
the site.  Legacy will pay the money to ZAWA in installments after 
construction begins, Sikazwe said, emphasizing that ZAWA has not 
 
LUSAKA 00001591  002 OF 002 
 
 
received any payments to date.  In addition, Legacy will pay ZAWA as 
much as two million USD a year in concession fees once the project 
is operational. 
 
¶7. (SBU) In a meeting with REHO and Poloff, Sikwaze denied that ZAWA 
had been influenced by the Legacy money, noting that the area where 
the company seeks to build was already earmarked for development. 
There are currently several projects under construction, as well as 
several completed hotels and resorts in the 66-square kilometer 
park, Sikazwe added.  Responding to concerns that the Legacy project 
will jeopardize the status of Victoria Falls as a World Heritage 
Site, Sikazwe noted that the resort will be several kilometers 
upstream from the Falls.  In contrast, Sikazwe pointed out that the 
Sun International Hotel is located virtually at the edge of the 
Victoria Falls.  The National Heritage Conservation Commission 
(NHCC) of Zambia has issued a statement in support of the Legacy 
project, Sikazwe said, arguing that the development is necessary if 
Livingstone is to become a global tourist destination. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Beyond its environmental implications, the Legacy project 
promises to challenge Zambian institutions charged with 
environmental protection.  Legacy Holdings Chairman Sikazwe's 
assertion that money did not play a role in the ZAWA decision to 
grant Legacy a tourism concession agreement does not seem plausible. 
 While there is no evidence that ZAWA contravened Zambian 
environmental law, it is likely that the notoriously under-funded 
agency was influenced by the revenue that will come with the 
project's development.  As a government agency and a stakeholder in 
the project, ZAWA will exercise considerable influence over the ECZ 
decision whether to approve the EIA and allow the project to move 
forward.  Also, the GRZ seems to support the project:  former Vice 
President Lupando Mwape laid a foundation stone in a ceremony at the 
project site earlier this year.  If environmental groups go to court 
to block the Legacy project, should it be approved, and assuming the 
case has merit, it will be an important test of judicial 
independence in Zambia. 
 
MARTINEZ