Allafrica.com reported that Tanzania has moved to speed up uranium extraction in Mkuju River in the Selous Game Reserve, Africa’s biggest wildlife conservancy area, amid protests from wildlife conservationists.The government has directed Mantra Tanzania Ltd to start mining within two years for citizens to benefit from the project and the country to earn foreign currency from mineral exports.

The government has directed Mantra Tanzania Ltd to start mining within two years for citizens to benefit from the project and the country to earn foreign currency from mineral exports. Deputy Minister for Energy and Minerals Medard Kalemani said extraction of uranium should have begun when the mining licence was granted on April 5, 2015.

Mantra Tanzania Ltd is a subsidiary of the Toronto-based Uranium Mining Company and its parent consortium, the Russian state-owned nuclear enterprise, Rosatom. Tanzania hopes to capitalise on rising uranium prices from 2017 to 2020, driven by increased demand. Uranium is used as a feedstock in nuclear reactors for generation of electricity.

Selous is the only natural World Heritage site in southern Tanzania and one of the largest wilderness areas left in Africa. Its value to Tanzania – and indeed to the rest of the world – is dependent on its large wildlife populations and pristine ecosystems,” said WWF-Tanzania Country Director Amani Ngusaru.

In 2014, UNESCO placed Selous on its List of World Heritage in Danger due to the severity of elephant poaching. At the recent peak of the crisis, an average of six Selous elephants were being gunned down by criminal syndicates each day.

Read the full article here

Get engaged and sign the petition to protect the Selous Here