Ecology of Wealth as a Precursor of Death
A Tragic Case Study
We have seen how local ecology plays an important role in conflicts in Africa, which are mostly camouflaged as political, religious or ethnic. Let us spare a brief moment and look at the Democratic Republic of Congo as a case study outline for ecology as a source of wealth and as a precursor of death for innocent millions of people.
A synopsis of the history of the DRC, as Congo Kinshasa is commonly known, tells us that the plunder of its natural resources begun well in the 19th century when King Leopold II’s Belgium, its former colonial master, demarcated it for its own enrichment with the infamous “Scramble for Africa” - a period in late 19th Century world affairs when Africa’s interior was feverishly carved up by European imperialist expansion.
No Peace Amid Wanton Destruction
Since then, DRC, formerly Zaire under the notorious Mobutu Sese Seko, has not known peace. But the wanton plunder and destruction of its ecology, plentiful of minerals and forest cover, continues. And millions of people have and continue paying the heavy cost of it all - through rape and death under the watchful eye of the world hiding beneath the blue flag of the United Nations. Talk of ecological wealth turned into a curse.
- » See also: On the Brink of Extinction: Call to Close Cruel and Inhumane Tiger Farms
- » Get EcoLocalizer by RSS or sign up by email.
In science, precursor is defined as a substance from which another substance is formed, so to use the term here aptly fits the true state of affairs in this tragic African story that would otherwise contribute great wealth to the rest of the world.
Untapped Mineral Wealth
The instability in Congo has largely been instigated by Congo’s yet untapped mineral wealth that even the Mafia now want to control. The fighting has been in the rich mineral regions of Eastern Congo. Despite the nearly abject poverty of its people, Congo is so rich in mineral wealth that it has virtually all known rich minerals found in the world.
Large deposits of gold, copper, cobalt, diamonds and petroleum oil still remain untapped. The country’s rivers provide a source of hydroelectric power giving Congo the capacity to light up all of Africa. Thousands of kilometers of forests have ample supply of wood that rivals that of the fast-depleting forests of the Amazon.
At the University of Kinshasa, Congo has Africa’s only nuclear reactor and research center since the country also has uranium deposits. The American atomic bombs that were dropped on the Japanese islands of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in the Second World War used uranium mined in the Congo.
DRC is a virtual mineral economy. Between 1921 and 1992, more than 90 new hitherto unknown minerals were discovered in the DRC. The country has metallic cobalt reserves estimated at 600,000 tons, with derivative names that include cattierite, comblainite, kolwezite, sphaerocobaltite, dolomite, cobaltoan calcite, carrollite, siegenite, heterogenite and oursinite.
But the mineral that dominates the headlines around the world is coltan. Cell phones, laptops and video-game machines contain a little-known, tarry black mineral called colombite-tantalite, or coltan, that’s found mostly in Congo and Australia. If it is from Congo, chances are that a warlord or rebel army sold it illegally and used the proceeds to buy weapons.
Fighting is Centered Around Mineral Reserves
The brutal fighting among militias in the Democratic Republic of Congo is occurring around some of the country’s richest mineral reserves and various rebel groups control areas rich in gold, diamonds and coltan whose mining process has disastrous social and environmental consequences.
Poor humans are being used as slave labor in the thousands of mineral mines scattered around DRC and up to a million people were uprooted from their homes in 2007 alone to escape the incessant fighting between rebel groups that compete for control of mineral deposits. Children are being forcefully enlisted as foot soldiers, to kill anyone who attempts to get in their way. Gorillas and other wildlife too have borne the brunt, with tens being killed in their natural habitat to pave way for even more mine territory and uncontrolled logging.
In the depletion of its forest cover, illegal logging of thousands of hectares for exotic woods such as Afromosia also known as African Teak and Sapele goes on unabated. This is despite the fact that African Teak is partially protected by a global agreement that unfortunately places no restrictions on its export from the DRC.
The CIA Factbook says continued poaching threatens wildlife populations; there are major issues to do with water pollution; deforestation; internally displaced people and refugees are responsible for significant deforestation, soil erosion, and wildlife poaching and mining of minerals continues to cause rampant environmental damage.
Resources and further reading:
National Public Radio, TIG Blogs, Reuters, The EUROMIN Project
Photo credits:
CIA Factbook/ DRCongo Map, Nando Quintana via Wikimedia Commons
[...] laptops and video-game machines but the main attraction for the Congolese rebels and defines the dangerous ecology and habitat of these [...]
[...] ecology indeed plays an important role in conflicts as a source of wealth and as a precursor of death for innocent millions of people. In Africa, these [...]