We're making Vic Falls better says Legacy

07 December 2006

THE environment may be better off with the 220-hectare Mosi oa Tunya Hotel and Country Club golf development in the Victoria Falls World Heritage Site, says Legacy chief executive, Bart Dorrenstein. ( Tel: +27 11 806-1200 Fax: +27 11 234-1828 E-mail: cklostermann@legacyhotels.co.za)

The site is presently used by picnickers and is being damaged through the indiscriminate cutting of trees, as well as the increased population of elephant crossing the river from Zimbabwe, Dorrenstein told Travel News Now recently.

According to the hotel group, bird life, flora and fauna on the site will be enhanced by the development, and game, once evident in the park, will be reintroduced. "These are all pluses for the area and environment," said Dorrenstein, who blames local stakeholders with their "own agenda or conflicting interests" for fanning the flames of outrage around the development.

The real issue, says Dorrenstein, is whether the environment on the Zambian side of the Victoria Falls will be better or worse off with the development. Legacy, he says, believes the development could be a model for others to follow, "one which sets the standard for how man, nature and wildlife can live together."

Meanwhile, the controversy surrounding the development is growing, with international and local mainstream media having added their voices to the outrage. But, as Legacy points out, this is not the first tourism development to have been built in the Victoria Falls World Heritage Site. "We are surprised to note that none of the other developments on the Zambian side seem to have been attracting any of the attention ours has," says Dorrenstein.

Ian Manning, steering committee member of the Natural Resources Consultative Forum of Zambia, says there was similar controversy around these developments, including the Sun International site. "Zambia has always suffered from a weak environmental lobby. Efforts were made to fight the Sun International development at the time, but the development was pushed through by the Zambian Vice President," says Manning.

Natalia Thomson
(nataliat@nowmedia.co.za)