After many years of delays, Tanzania’s President, John Magufuli, on Tuesday announced that he would be going ahead with the 2,100- megawatt Stiegler’s Gorge dam in a World Heritage site renowned for its animal populations and variety of wildlife habitats
Tanzania hopes to diversify its energy mix with the planed dam, as part of plans to end chronic energy shortages.
The country is currently has just 1,400MW of installed grid capacity compared to the UK’s total grid capacity of 85,000MW.
Conservationists fear the plans will cause irreversible damage to the Selous game reserve in the country.
The reserve is one of the largest protected areas in Africa, according to UNESCO. It is home to a huge variety of species including elephants, cheetahs, giraffes and crocodiles.
The reserve is a world heritage site but was listed as “in danger” by UNESCO a couple of years ago when there were catastrophic falls in animal numbers after heavy poaching, this according to the guardian.
According to a statement from the office of the president, a team of experts from Ethiopia would arrive in the country this week to provide advice on its implementation, Reuters reports.
Ethiopia has an array of hydropower projects under construction, including the $4.1 billion Grand Renaissance Dam along the Nile River that will churn out 6,000 MW upon completion, the report further states.
