NEWS
Mozambique ’ s ISIS insurgency threatens to destroy conservation progress and fragile environmental protections in Niassa Special Reserve
Angus Begg
The Islamic State ( IS ) insurgency in northern Mozambique has taken a new , sinister turn , moving inland and westward into the Niassa Special Reserve , since the first attack on November 25 destroying four towns and displacing over 2,000 people en route , according to the UN-aligned International Office for Migration ( IOM ). This figure , from Tuesday 14 December , focused on just one of four affected districts , doubled from the day before .
In this wilderness space of 42,000 square kilometres , larger than all of South Africa ’ s protected areas combined , and comanaged by Mozambique ’ s National Administration for Conservation Areas ( Anac ) and the Wildlife Conservation Society ( WCS ), another humanitarian crisis beckons , with a potential environmental catastrophe lurking around the corner .
The conflict is linked to the insurgency in neighbouring Cabo Delgado , which , although it began in 2017 , exploded when the once sleepy fishing village of Palma was attacked by Islamic fundamentalists , primarily because French company Total was developing a $ 20 bn (£ 14.6 bn ) gas liquefaction plant for the second largest gas reserve in Africa just off Palma , and there was wealth to be had .
Palma had become a thriving hub for Mozambique ’ s burgeoning gas industry , attracting a building boom of hotels , banks and construction yards . There was significant foreign investment in town and more than 1,000 foreign
Figure 1 . Typical Niassa special Reserve landscape around the Lugenda river . ( Photo : Colleen Begg )
29 Grassroots Vol 22 No 1 March 2022