This World Environment Day, we’re sharing a few of our favourite stories about how mining companies and communities in Zambia are doing their part to protect – and, even, improve – the natural environment where they live and work.
1. Nature’s Nectar
You might have heard about Nature’s Nectar, the incredible mine-supported start-up that was inspired by a desire to introduce sustainable honey-farming practices into communities surrounding West Lunga National Park.
Traditionally, the area’s honey has been collected from “bark hives” which – as the name suggests – are made from stripped tree bark. The problem comes when, after the bark is removed trees of all ages – even decades-old elders – die in the process.
Nature’s Nectar’s is an uplifting story about entrepreneurship, local job creation, and innovative ways to incentivise environmental conservation. Read it here.
2. Wildlife park or copper mine?
These happily grazing zebras might look like they live in a lush wildlife park – but they’re residents of Kansanshi copper mine in Zambia’s North-Western Province. These are just a handful in a large herd of zebra, impala, kudu, eland, wildebeest and several other species that Kansanshi Mining PLC brought in to re-populate the land where they once lived, before being poached into nothingness.
Read more about how these animals are one example of Kansanshi’s wild, out-of-the-box solutions to maintaining biodiversity, here.
3. Reforesting the future
Hear Arnold Malambo, Environmental Manager at Kansanshi Mine, talking about the company’s mission to double their tree planting efforts in Zambia, aiming to plant 30,000 trees and rehabilitate over 35 hectares of land in 2024, in this short article.
Fun fact: FQM also strips and stores valuable topsoil so it can be used to rehabilitate land in the future.
Protecting the earth’s natural ecosystems is a mammoth task and, at times, it can make us feel helpless. If you want to reduce your footprint on Mother Earth, why not try ecobrick-ing? It’s a free and easy way of turning waste into a resource.
See also: Reforesting the future
