Namibia Approves Controversial Project to Dredge Phosphate from Seabed
Namibia has granted environmental clearance for the Sandpiper Project, allowing industrial phosphate dredging off the coast of Walvis Bay. Environmental groups warn that the project could severely damage the Benguela marine ecosystem and threaten the local fishing industry.
Why it matters
This project highlights the ongoing tension between industrial resource extraction and the preservation of critical marine biodiversity and food security.
Namibia has granted an environmental clearance to a controversial marine phosphate extraction project. The clearance allows the Sandpiper Project, operated by Namibian Marine Phosphate (NMP), to dredge the seabed off the coast of Walvis Bay for phosphate.
Environmentalists are concerned about the impact on the country’s fisheries sector and the potential health impacts from consuming fish that breed in the areas earmarked for dredging.
The Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) granted to NMP by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) on Aug. 5 allows industrial mining within concession 170 (ML 170) off the west coast of Namibia in country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The concession area covers roughly 2,234 square kilometers (863 square miles) of the Atlantic seabed , according to the company’s website.
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