The Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, located in Limpopo’s Vhembe district, is a region of South Africa renowned for its remarkable natural landscapes and biodiversity. However, plans to develop the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ), a large-scale industrial project jointly backed by China and the South African government, threaten to transform these ecologically sensitive areas through extensive industrialisation and mining activities.      

The MMSEZ project plans a 60-square-kilometer heavy industrial zone that will require the establishment of approximately ten new opencast coal mines, supplying energy and coal feedstock for metallurgical development. The combined mining and industrial developments are set to strip away more than 125 000 hectares of indigenous vegetation within the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve (VBR), causing irreparable harm to the ecosystem and undermining conservation efforts in the area. 

Critically, the development will involve the destruction of more than 600 000 protected trees, including iconic species such as baobabs, marula, shepherd’s trees, and leadwoods, according to records disclosed by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) related to licences for protected tree destruction. 

As indicated by Lauren Liebenberg from Living Limpopo, the MMSEZ footprint – along with surrounding opencast coal mines – will disrupt natural habitats and destroy critical biodiversity areas, which have already been identified for their unique environmental value by Limpopo’s Conservation Plan. 

"The tragedy of bulldozing thousands of ancient baobabs speaks for the rest of the savanna biome in the Vhembe Biosphere that is being sacrificed for coal and dirty industry," said Liebenberg.

It has been confirmed that the DFFE has granted environmental authorisation for indigenous vegetation clearance and has begun issuing the necessary protected tree destruction permits.  

Prof Peter Taylor, a leading conservation expert and professor in the Department of Zoology and Entomology on the University of the Free State Qwaqwa Campus, has served on the board and committee of the UNESCO-inscribed Vhembe Biosphere Reserve (VBR) since 2010. Working alongside other conservationists, Prof Taylor developed a Strategic Environmental Management Plan (SEMP) for the biosphere, including a proposed future zonation plan for core and buffer areas that informs the targets for the expansion of protected areas and conservation programmes in the ‘Great Vhembe Conservation Area’ – a flagship land management initiative of the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve. “This plan identified the unique biodiversity value of these zones, which closely correspond to critical biodiversity areas defined by the Limpopo Province’s Conservation Plan,” Prof Taylor explained. 

In 2019, Prof Taylor contributed to the Vhembe Biosphere’s first 10-year review report to UNESCO, which outlined the importance of protecting the biosphere’s diverse ecosystems. More recently – in January 2023 – he worked with Prof Aliza le Roux, Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and Professor in the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the UFS, along with other experts, on an advisory for the Science Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE) under the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf). This advisory cautioned against the MMSEZ project, highlighting severe risks to biodiversity, water resources, and climate stability due to anticipated carbon emissions from coal-related activities.

“These warnings have not been heeded,” Prof Taylor stated. “Several media outlets have reported that the MMSEZ is proceeding with a tree destruction permit to destroy more than 600 000 protected trees and initiating new coal mines within critical biodiversity areas of the VBR."

Media that has thus far reported on the situation, include: