The government has banned with immediate effect all mining in the Hwange National Park in the west of the country.
Addressing the media after a cabinet briefing, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the government seeks to have mining is conducted in a manner that is conducive to the environment.
Two Chinese companies had been granted licenses to explore for coal inside Zimbabwe’s biggest game reserve, home to more than 40,000 elephants, as well as black rhinos, lions and many other animal species.
Conservationists had filed an urgent application arguing that any type of mining in the country’s largest national park posed an acute risk of irreversible ecological degradation, and could kill the country’s tourism industry.
