40 year crisis
Mining giant Rio Tinto has been grated permission to open a huge mine on the idyllic island of Madagascar and dig up one of the world's most unique forests. Of the estimated 200,000 plant and animal species in Madagascar, 75 per cent are unique to it.
Rio Tinto, which has the World Bank's backing for the project, however, insists that it is committed to causing minimum environmental damage. It also points out that the project, being developed by its subsidiary QIT Madagascar in the island's Fort Dauphin region, will lead to the economic growth of the area in a big way. Ilmenite, a mineral used to produce titanium dioxide pigment, will be mined in the area.
The US $770.9 million project will involve digging up nearly 1,000 hectares of land and coastal rainforests in different phases. The operations could last for 40 years. Nearly 10 years ago, Andrew Lees of environmental group Friends of the Earth had died while investigating the ramifications of the mining proposal. He first disappeared and was subsequently found dead in the forest; reports said he had died of heat stroke and exhaution.
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