https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46539422



Tanzania dam: Power plant planned in Selous Game Reserve

3 hours ago

The Selous Game Reserve is home to a huge range of species, including the African fish eagle
Tanzania's President John Magufuli has signed a deal for the construction of a hydro-electric power plant in one of East Africa's best-known game reserves, amid criticism from environmentalists.

The deal, worth $3bn (£2.4bn), envisages the construction of a dam on the Rufiji River in the Selous Game Reserve, a Unesco World Heritage site.

Tanzania says the project will double its total power supply.

But conservationists warn that it will destroy wildlife habitat.


The deal was signed with two Egyptian construction firms.

The reservoir created by the dam is expected to be the largest in east Africa, inundating 1,200 sq km (463 sq miles) of land in an area known as Stiegler's Gorge.

Tanzania has argued that the project will boost development and double its existing power capacity. Only one-third of the country's population currently has access to electricity.


The Rufiji River in the Selous Reserve is home to crocodiles, among other species
The WWF, the global environmental body, says the project will also endanger the livelihoods of some 200,000 people - including farmers and fishermen - living downstream from the proposed dam.

A 2017 report by the body warns that the project could lead to greater erosion downstream, potentially drying out lakes that attract wildlife tourism, reducing the fertility of farmland and causing the retreat of the Rufiji Delta.



The Selous Game Reserve is home to a huge variety of animal species, including elephants and rhinos, whose population numbers have been falling because of heavy poaching. The reserve's elephant population has fallen by 90% in the last 40 years, according to the WWF.

Stiegler's Gorge is named after a Swiss engineer who was killed by an elephant in 1907. He had been planning to build a dam in the area.

https://www.ledger-enquirer.co...rticle222988660.html



Tanzania agrees to construct $3 billion dam in wildlife park

The Associated Press

December 12, 2018 09:45 AM

Updated 3 hours 18 minutes ago

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA
Tanzania on Wednesday signed a $3 billion agreement with two Egyptian companies to construct a huge hydroelectric plant in a game reserve that is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

President John Magufuli witnessed the signing of the agreement with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly. The companies involved are Arab Contractors and el-Sewedy Electric, an engineering services company.

Conservationists have opposed the construction of the 2,115-megawatt hydroelectric plant along the Rufiji River in the Selous Game Reserve. The reserve is renowned for its animal populations and variety of wildlife habitats.


Conservationists say the project would destroy the environment, which also is key tourist draw and source of revenue for the East African nation. Conservation group WWF, which has openly opposed the project, was not immediately available for comment.

The plan was formulated in the 1980s but Tanzania did not have the capital to put it into effect until recently. Magufuli now says his government is financing the project itself.

Egypt's state news agency said the dam is expected to produce 5,920 gigawatts of power annually.

___

Associated Press writer Sam Magdy in Cairo contributed.

We hunted much of the area that will be flooded last year...damn shame plus the huge influx of people into the Selous can't be good.

Adios Selous- and where are the animal protection zealots? No opposition from them?

As hunters we are disappointed that a dam is being built in the game reserve.

However, the Selous GR covers 50,000sk. The Stiegler's Gorge Dam will cover 1,200sk. Therefore only 1/40 of the Selous GR will be covered by the reservoir.

As a comparison, the reservoir behind the Stiegler Dam will be apx. 22% the size of Lake Kariba.

Disappointing, yes. Devastating, no. A source of electricity to the millions of Tanzanian's that have none now, hopefully.

This has been on the cards for a good number of decades & I've posted on AR several times in recent years so it's hardly new news. - But no-one seems to utter so much as a squeak about the destruction of such a magnificent world heritage site.

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
This has been on the cards for a good number of decades & I've posted on AR several times in recent years so it's hardly new news. - But no-one seems to utter so much as a squeak about the destruction of such a magnificent world heritage site.

Absolutely. Africans should be confined to living in mud huts and burning manure for fuel.

Grizz

Agree that a dam at Stiegler's Gorge has been talked about for decades. This time there actually seems to be some traction.

Most hydroelectric projects end up destroying man's cultural and historic sites. Probably none more than Aswan High and Three Gorges.

We in the first world have already destroyed our cultural sites with dams, yet we try to salve our conscience by requiring third world countries to not destroy their sites, inadvertently keeping those countries from attaining the same standard of living we have.

The Tanzanians I have talked to think the dam will be beneficial to themselves and their children. The cost of progress can be high, but if we were a subsistence farmer in rural Tanzania and this might provide our children with a light bulb to read by, a hotplate to cook with, a mini-fridge for the village to keep medicines, a charging station for phones, a source of fresh water in the dry season etc. I wonder how we would feel.

quote:

Originally posted by AilsaWheels:
Agree that a dam at Stiegler's Gorge has been talked about for decades. This time there actually seems to be some traction.

Most hydroelectric projects end up destroying man's cultural and historic sites. Probably none more than Aswan High and Three Gorges.

We in the first world have already destroyed our cultural sites with dams, yet we try to salve our conscience by requiring third world countries to not destroy their sites, inadvertently keeping those countries from attaining the same standard of living we have.

The Tanzanians I have talked to think the dam will be beneficial to themselves and their children. The cost of progress can be high, but if we were a subsistence farmer in rural Tanzania and this might provide our children with a light bulb to read by, a hotplate to cook with, a mini-fridge for the village to keep medicines, a charging station for phones, a source of fresh water in the dry season etc. I wonder how we would feel.

Sadly, we only look at one side of the coin.

quote:

if we were a subsistence farmer in rural Tanzania and this might provide our children with a light bulb to read by, a hotplate to cook with, a mini-fridge for the village to keep medicines, a charging station for phones, a source of fresh water in the dry season etc.

From a bulb and a mini-fridge to a full-blown population and townships.

It may look good on paper but the final outcome may be totally negative; depending where the priorities lie, sacrificing some to appease the others and of course the silver lining to the pockets of some others.

The farming communities downstream of the dam for example are the ones who would have no need of a bulb and mini-fridge as their water supply will have been cut by probably 80%.

Mkapa's bridge could also have been built at less than half the price.

Two Egyptian companies?

Corruption is cast in stone then!

You'd think that for 3 billion they'd also be looking at solar. But, as in the case of Kariba, there will eventually be pros as well as cons.

It may only cover 1/40th of the area, but I would suggest it will necessitate better roads and lots of workers. Both will promote poaching for bush meat to feed workers if nothing else. If the government would work at anti poaching then perhaps the impact wouldn't be so great. We all know how effective that is......
Bruce

“Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone?

They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot.”

True words.

As true now as they were then.

It’s a damned shame.

quote:

Originally posted by Gillettehunter:
It may only cover 1/40th of the area, but I would suggest it will necessitate better roads and lots of workers. Both will promote poaching for bush meat to feed workers if nothing else. If the government would work at anti poaching then perhaps the impact wouldn't be so great. We all know how effective that is......
Bruce

Bingo. The influx of roads, infrastructure, and people into the reserve are going to be a mucking fess......

Brett

quote:

Originally posted by Gillettehunter:
It may only cover 1/40th of the area, but I would suggest it will necessitate better roads and lots of workers. Both will promote poaching for bush meat to feed workers if nothing else. If the government would work at anti poaching then perhaps the impact wouldn't be so great. We all know how effective that is......
Bruce

The governments anti-poaching activity has definitely picked up in the past couple of years.

Posting for Shakari.

This gives an idea of just how long it's been in the works...



1. 1962 British Detailed Survey report This has all the charts , maps data on Rufiji Basin





2. Norway firm NORAD lead group for dam construction 1979




3,TZ government report 1980





4.US Harza enginering firm for Reservoir Bush and Tree clearing 1980




5. Ecosystems Nairobi wild life study 1980




6. Ecosystem name on report. These were some of Best Wildlife Experts in Africa




7.University of Dar Report done by Selous Ecologist Dr. Allen Roders 1980

Construction Movie of the Stieglers Gorge Selous Dam www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLM_EWzfpw8

Interesting video. Thanks for the update.