Source: Apopo to clear landmines in Zim – DailyNews Live
Staff Writer 29 November 2017
HARARE – Anti-Persoonsmijnen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling (in Dutch),
or Anti-Personnel Landmines Detection Product Development (Apopo) – the
charity famed for its use of specially-trained rats in landmine and
tuberculosis detection – will begin clearing landmines in Zimbabwe’s
largest wildlife conservation area and important elephant migration area,
coinciding with new beginnings in the country.
Apopo has been tasked by the Zimbabwean Defence ministry with clearing the
deadly landmines inside what is now the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park
(GLTP) – the largest conservation area in the world, spanning South
Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
The four-decades old landmines cause a serious threat to already
endangered wildlife such as elephants and lions, as well as to local
communities who desperately need the land for grazing and agriculture.
Laid along the Mozambique border by the Rhodesian army during the war of
independence in the 1970s, the landmines represent a remnant of a troubled
time.
“…Mugabe’s resignation after four decades of rule now marks the
beginning of a new era for Zimbabwe,” said Christophe Cox, CEO of Apopo.
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