FAMOUS AUTHOR PROVIDES A SNAPSHOT OF ENVIROMENTAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MAPUTO 000521 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR OES/PCI, OES/ENV AND AF/S E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SOCI EAGR ECON ETRD PGOV PREL EINV MZ SUBJECT: FAMOUS AUTHOR PROVIDES A SNAPSHOT OF ENVIROMENTAL ENFORCEMENT ¶1. (SBU) This cable represents the third in a series of innovative collaboration in environment/science reporting between Embassies Maputo and Pretoria. Embassy Pretoria ESTH Officer and Maputo Economic/Commercial officer visited environment and science projects in Niassa, Sofala and Cabo Delgado Provinces and met relevant government and private officials in Maputo during a March 8-17, 2009 visit. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Mia Couto, world famous Mozambican author, biologist and environmental activist, met with embassy officers to discuss environmental enforcement in Mozambique. Couto noted that current resource extraction and farming practices are harming the environment, and that much of Mozambique's natural resources are sold to South Africa. He commented that the Ministry for Coordination of Environment Affairs (MCEA) does not have the capacity to conduct scientific studies or to enforce environmental regulations. Jurisdictional disputes between MCEA and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) complicate enforcement. Couto said the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process is used primarily for small factories or infrastructure projects; most investors simply ignore it. END SUMMARY. -------------- -------------- Small Farms, Poor Farming Methods, No Zoning Laws -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Mia Couto provided Pretoria ESTH Officer, US Forestry Service International Programs Africa Program Officer, and EconOff an overview of Mozambique's environmental regulations and enforcement on March 13, 2009. He noted that most of the 20 million population rely on small (one hectare) farms. Irrigation is primarily from rainfall or from water collected in small dams located throughout the country. Modern technology such as improved fertilizers, better farming practices, integrated waste management would improve the situation. Couto noted that Mozambique generates two gigawatts of electricity, but eighty percent is sold to South Africa. Couto said about same percentages hold true for natural gas and coal. ¶4. (SBU) Couto said there are no zoning laws. He advised that in one coastal region a former mayor allowed construction that destroyed native vegetation, causing erosion. Couto opined that these areas are "headed for disaster" unless environmental laws are enforced because the water table is very low in these regions. He noted that the rural poor live along the sea, in natural parks or in protected areas, all of which are densely populated. The World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) has been pressuring the government to relocate people, creating social and ethnic tension. ¶5. (SBU) Couto commented that bush fires, river sanitation and poor water management are serious problems. There is little infrastructure and "lots of pressure" on natural resources. The primary fuel source is charcoal which leads to deforestation; current agricultural practices exhaust the land; a growing population needs more and more land causing competition for valuable land. -------------- Enforcement Challenges: Ethnic Tensions and Jurisdictional Disputes -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Couto said the situation is most complex along the coast because there are numerous ethic groups, including the Makonde, Mkua, and Kimwani who were Muslim slavers in former times. Couto notes there are "ancient bad feelings still from slavery." He commented that the groups have different languages and that the Makonde were Frelimo leaders, creating political tensions and making a unified approach "difficult." Couto said that tensions have increased in recent years as tourism opens more opportunities. He said there is little scientific knowledge about these areas, and no ecological information. He noted that these groups need more training on ecological issues, saying, "They think the only disaster is an oil spill." ¶7. (SBU) Couto said that competing jurisdictions complicated environmental enforcement. National parks and protected areas were moved into the MCEA approximately five or six years ago. All the buffer zones still fall under MARD, which has no environmental division. Neither ministry has the jurisdiction to deal with mangroves, corals, or fisheries. Couto says the most efficient government entity is the MAPUTO 00000521 002 OF 003 Natural History Museum and the best source of soil erosion information is the National Institute's Agricultural Research Unit. -------------- Government Lacks Scientific and Managerial Capacity To Enforce Laws -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Couto commented that the government lacks capacity to conduct scientific studies. There are no science advisors, and the government has issued only minimal environmental guidelines. MCEA has no inventories of biodiversity, river conditions, habitats, or ecosystems. Couto said, "No one has any idea how much soil erosion has occurred or why." He commented that the government "only sees rivers as energy producers and does not value the social and ecological aspects." Couto said MCEA "wants to be in charge of everything, but has no perception of priorities or even an agenda." He stated that MCEA makes decisions without science or environmental knowledge. He gave an example of 100 elephants being killed because MCEA could not figure out what to do with them. He also noted that political corruption is present in both ministries. ¶9. (SBU) Couto believes the situation is worse now than in the 1970s when there were small traders everywhere. He says there are no factories, and few processing plants. He commented that people only buy what they can consume and most of that comes from South Africa. He deplored the government's decision to create farm cooperatives, stating that the government had no idea how to supply the communes with services or how the communes would produce goods or services for sale. He said no one thought about the necessity of building schools, markets, or banks for these communal farms. -------------- -------------- EIA Process ) Promising Start, But No Enforcement -------------- -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Couto then discussed the EIA process, noting that it began in 1998, and has not changed much since then. He said the EIA is the main tool to integrate environmental issues into development and project implementation. The bulk of the EIAs are conducted for small factories and infrastructure projects such as power lines, roads, or water works. He noted that enforcement is "very weak because the government lacks manpower." He commented that investors simply ignore EIA rules because nothing happens to them. He sees the coastal area as the most problematic. ¶11. (SBU) Couto's company has been conducting EIA awareness workshops, targeted at oil/gas prospecting for the past few years. They have developed a special course for parliamentarians. Couto commented that a few years ago it was difficult to find anyone qualified to act as an on-site environmental manager, but his company has now trained forty people in this capacity. -------------- BIO NOTE -------------- ¶12. (SBU) Mia (Antonio Emilio Leite) Couto was born in Beira, Mozambique to Portuguese immigrants. He studied medicine at Lourenco Marques University from 1971 to 1974. When Mozambique became independent in 1975, Couto dropped out of school, finding work as a journalist, and then as director of the Mozambican Information Agency after 1977. Between 1978 and 1981 he edited a weekly magazine and was editor of a newspaper. He resigned from these posts in 1985 to return to school at the renamed Eduardo Mondlane University, earning a biology degree in 1989. He continued to study biology at the graduate level and began teaching at the university. He eventually became an environmental biologist at Limpopo Transfrontier Park, and is now the Director General of IMPACTO, an environmental project analysis and implementation firm. ¶13. (SBU) Couto's first book of poetry appeared in 1983. He published collections of short stories in 1986 and in 1994. Many of his stories concern Mozambique's civil war. His first novel was published in 1992, followed by a detective novel in 1996. An international jury at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair called his first novel, 'Terra Sonambula (Sleepwalking Land)', "one of the best 12 African books of the 20th century." In 2001 he won the Mario Antonio MAPUTO 00000521 003 OF 003 prize from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation for his novel 'Under the Frangipani.' In April 2007, he became the first African author to win the annual Italian Latin Union Award of Romantic Languages, which includes authors from Portugal, France, Columbia, Spain, Italy and Senegal. Couto was only the fourth Portuguese language writer to win this 12,000 euro prize. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶14. (SBU) COMMENT: Couto was frank and candid in his assessment of environmental enforcement in Mozambique. If he is correct, and there is no reason to doubt him, the lack of scientific information and trained managers, along with corruption, hampers environmental enforcement. Programs providing assistance in conducting scientific studies and in training government officials in enforcement would help meet the gaps noted by Couto. Training programs such as the one developed in part by the USG for the South African Environmental Enforcement Managers might be useful models. END COMMENT. Chapman