Activists confront EMA over Monavale Vlei destruction

The Save Monavale Vlei Campaign has welcomed the formal appeal lodged against the Environmental Management Agency’s (EMA) decision to approve a commercial development on Monavale Wetland, warning that the move threatens “a national and global treasure.”

In a press statement released on Wednesday, the campaign said the approval endangers Monavale Vlei, “one of Zimbabwe’s only seven Ramsar-protected wetlands and a lifeline for Harare’s water security.”

“This approval threatens to carve up a restored wetland that has been protected by the community for decades,” the campaign said, adding that the decision was based on “an EIA report riddled with errors, omissions and outright falsehoods.”

According to the statement, the environmental impact assessment claimed there was “no significant fauna” at Monavale, a site the campaign says is “known internationally for its extraordinary biodiversity, including endangered species.”

The group said the approval process failed to include key scientific assessments. “There was no proper hydrology study, no serious assessment of flooding or downstream impacts, and no consideration of cumulative wetland loss across Harare,” the statement read.

The campaign also accused authorities of excluding affected communities from the decision-making process.

“Local residents, downstream neighbourhoods, schools, conservation groups, faith communities and children—who use Monavale for education, recreation, prayer and wellbeing were simply ignored,” it said. “This was not consultation; it was exclusion.”

Warnings from key institutions were also disregarded.

“Warnings from ZINWA and from the City of Harare were brushed aside.”

Rejecting claims that the wetland is idle land, the group stressed that “Monavale Vlei is not ‘empty land’.” It said the wetland “slowly releases clean water into Lake Chivero all year round via the Marimba River,” “cleans and filters water,” “prevents flooding in downstream communities,” and “supports the life of hundreds of different species.”

The statement described Monavale as “sacred to many, vital to children’s education, and essential to Harare’s future water security,” warning that “developing commercial projects on a Ramsar site flies in the face of Zimbabwe’s own laws, its National Wetlands Policy, National Development Strategy 2, and its leadership role in the Ramsar Convention.”

The campaign further said the proposed development threatens a broader conservation vision.

“This particular development stands in the way of our big vision… to create a massive urban park from the Monavale Wetland Ramsar Site all the way along the banks of the Marimba River to Lake Chivero,” it said.

Calling for urgent intervention, the group appealed directly to government. “We call on the Minister of Environment to do the right thing: overturn this unlawful approval, protect Monavale Wetland, and choose conservation over short-term private interests,” they said.