An increasing problem at the border town of Chirundu, where the main highway linking Harare with Lusaka crosses the Zambezi River over a large road bridge, is the environmental degradation and the effect on the wildlife in the region.

Almost all goods transported between southern and central Africa are now carried along this road in huge haulage trucks, all of which have to cross the Chirundu border bridge.

There are often long delays and queues of trucks line the highway, as drivers wait for their paperwork to be processed at the border.

Lack of planning has meant that there is no provision of proper facilities for housing and feeding these truck drivers and the resulting chaos is an environmental and health disaster in the making.  To make matters worse, wildlife in the surrounding areas is often attracted to scavenge in the piles of rubbish which lie around, and there are frequent incidents where baboons or elephants have to be shot because they have become a nuisance to people.

The Chirundu Town Council resorted to allocating stands of land for “ribbon-development” along the highway, where haulage companies have built facilities for their drivers and staff to use while they wait at the border. This has proved to be very controversial, as some of the allocations have taken place without proper planning procedures and consultation and developments are affecting wildlife and nearby water sources.

As a result the Zambezi Society is engaging with the relevant authorities in Chirundu and the region to try to find a long-term solution to this problem that will ensure that wildlife and water sources in the area are not harmed.

The next step is to map the area from satellite imagery and the Zambezi Society is appealing for up to US$3000-worth of funding to assist with this initial process which can kick-start the planning.

If you can help with this please contact the Zambezi Society direct or make a contribution via the website www.zamsoc.org.