Projects undertaken by Advocacy for Environmental Restoration (ARE)- Zambia.

ARE is working closely with Environmental Council of Zambia (ECZ) and other Statutory Zambian environmental organization and has been frequently invited to national seminars/workshops.

ARE has frequently used undergraduate students on a number of projects as project assistants and as a way of developing environmental awareness and exposure to the numerous environmental problems.

The Kafue River Basin Dialogue project

AREZ and ZWP, WWF are spearheading & facilitating the Kafue River Basin (KRB) Dialogue which is a forum initiated by ten international organizations; (WWF, IUCN, UNEP, WHO, GWP, IWMI, IFAP, WWC, ICID and FAO) for partners, stakeholders and the Government of Zambia to make appropriate decisions to safeguard its food security & economic activities without degrading the Kafue River Basin; to maintain the balance between water food, environment and other uses e.g. energy. The main goal of the Dialogue is aimed at demonstrating that improved water resources management using concept of integrated river basin management should lead to

Improved natural resource use, reduced effluent pollutants, greater food security, improved human health and greater ecological sustainability.

Currently ARE Chairs the Technical Committee of the consortium of partners on this KRB project.

AREZ is more directly and primarily concerned with pollutants and effluent discharge into the Kafue River Basin as these exacerbate the degradation of the basin fresh water and natural resources. Through this Stakeholders Dialogue AREZ hopes to lobby for reduced high levels of industrial pollutants on land and in water courses that have caused deforestations, wildlife and fish depletions, degenerations of wet lands and biodiversity. Uncontrolled heavy metal levels in rivers cause chronic diseases while untreated sewage effluent discharge causes cholera and dysentery epidemics etc.

A research proposal has already been submitted to the Kafue River Basin Committee on Water, Food and the Environment.

This Committee among other things is concerned about the quality of water (pollution levels) in the Kafue River Basin. Therefore, AREZ, is playing a very crucial national role in the intervention of uncontrolled river and air pollution by the Kafue industries. Reduction in the concentrations of these environmentally harmful substances to WHO acceptable levels will lead to improved human health, greater ecological sustainability

Copperbelt Environmental Project (CEP)

This a Government project and World Bank (US$40 million) funded project aimed at clean up of approximately a century Zambia’s Copper belt mining waste and environmental degradation. The key focus of the project is to remediate the impacts of the mining environmental degradation particularly as regards, issues of negative impacts on human health, safety and fresh water (Kafue river basin)

AREZ represents the local NGOs on the Environment Management Facility- Steering Committee (EMF-SC) this is like a Board of Directors that directs and approves project proposal requiring funding to remediate the specific environmental problem associated with Mining

AREZ has been participating in the entire EMF-CEP meeting to approve projects that are ranked as priority in terms of the criteria on Human healthy and Safety.

More than 15 remediation project proposals have been received these have been reviewed and assessed by the EMF-SC the most urgent and life threatening environmental remediation works have been approved currently under implementation. Others have been  put on hold pending the comprehensive study known Consolidated Environmental Management plan (CEMP) which will help identify prioritize and ranks remediation projects. EMF-SC has undertaken site-specific visits to assess the dangers with respect degradations caused by mining i.e. tailings dams’ geo-technical assessment works. Also the inspections of the remediation works has been undertaken to assess the effectiveness of the work on ground. Download full Project Reports now.

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