Team:Edinburgh/mapxmlzimbabwe



Zimbabwe <![CDATA[ Zimbabwe is contaminated with landmines, mostly antipersonnel, and explosive remnants of war (ERW). As of June 2008, the mine threat was across eight minefields laid in the 1970s. Combat with liberation movements operating out of Mozambique and Zambia also resulted in significant quantities of unexploded ordnance (UXO).

In May 2008, Zimbabwe reported they had 813.3km2 of mine-affected land from an initial contaminated area of 1,119.9km2, having cleared 306.6km2 since 1980. The estimate of remaining contamination is a decrease from November 2007 when Zimbabwe reported it had 817.9km2 remaining, suggesting demining of an area of 4.6km2 in the intervening six months. In 1994, Zimbabwe estimated there were 2,605,400 mines in seven large mined areas. Zimbabwe also reported, surprisingly, that 920,413 mines had been destroyed either by animals or the climate, including 788,000 in the Victoria Falls to Mlibizi minefield.

Zimbabwe’s minefields are known to have one of the highest densities of mines in the world. For example, the border minefields, known as the “Cordon Sanitaire,” consisted of a 25m-wide strip of three rows of antipersonnel mines at a density of approximately 5,500 mines per km.During clearance operations that covered 27% of the suspected area they found 33,032 mines, or just 1% of the original estimated number of landmines.

Since 1980, 1,550 people have been killed or injured and 120,000 livestock have been reported killed in mine blasts. It is further estimated that landmines have blocked access to 300km2 of communal land, 107km2 of commercial farm land, and 50km2 of game parks, plus an unknown quantity of tea and timber plantations, and border posts. Zimbabwe has estimated that all but 5% of the total suspected hazardous area (SHA) can be used for economic development.

Landmines have adversely affected commercial crop farming and forestry. With the hyperinflation in Zimbabwe, it is impossible to put a true value on the estimated ZWD45 billion reported lost in farming as a result, although it has certainly negatively affected Zimbabwe’s exports and hard currency earnings. Much of the timber in mine-affected areas is well past its maturity and has already lost its commercial value.

While clearing mines at Victoria Falls was a priority in order to promote tourism, the Sango Border Post to Crooks Corner mined area lies largely within the Gonarezhou National Park, which has now been merged into the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park that Zimbabwe shares with South Africa and Mozambique. Many animals have been killed or maimed by mines in this area. Zimbabwe fears a further delay in clearing the park of mines will result in a major loss of tourist dollars in 2010 when South Africa hosts the International Federation of Association Football World Cup.

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