In Zambia, battle over future of Victoria Falls

Last year, the Zambian Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) opened up a small slice of the park for tourism development, part of the Zambian government's effort to make tourism a key driver of economic growth. Legacy moved in and negotiated with the Zambian government to secure an even bigger chunk of land.

When environmentalists and civil society groups got wind of the proposed deal, they were incensed, in part because the proposal would threaten an important habitat for the hundreds of elephants that cross the river from Zimbabwe into Zambia each year. They also complained that the extra land had been granted in a secretive fashion, raising questions about the transparency of the environmental review process in Zambia, where the government continues to struggle with bureaucratic corruption, especially in the allocation of land.

But the promise of jobs and cash from foreign investors is a powerful motivator for citizens and politicians in Zambia, where only about 20 percent of the workforce is formally employed.

Legacy won support from some local residents – and the local chief – who argued that job creation must accompany conservation. The project would "create space for us to find work. It's a very good idea," Victor Mweela, a young taxi driver, says as he waits for customers outside a recently built Livingstone shopping complex catering to affluent tourists. "Maybe we'll find jobs. I don't like to be a taxi driver."

But conservation and civil-society groups called this a dangerously short-term outlook, given Zambia's reliance on its national parks for revenue. After raising their concerns at a contentious public hearing last fall, they used Internet blogs to keep supporters updated and to spread the word internationally.

It worked.

Safari tour operators in Britain threatened to boycott Legacy. The US Environmental Protection Agency wrote to the Zambian government to voice its concerns. The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) let it be known that the project would put in jeopardy the World Heritage site status that the Falls and the park currently enjoy.

In December, the Environmental Council of Zambia (ECZ) handed down a compromise decision. Noting that the Legacy proposal would have "far reaching environmental consequences," the ECZ said that the golf course and villas would have to go. Legacy could keep its two hotels, but would be prohibited from putting up animal fencing or building their hotels higher than the treetops.

"It was a huge victory," says Mike Musgrave, a South African-born businessman and president of the Livingstone chapter of the Wildlife and Environmental Conservation Society of Zambia. "It's the biggest environmental campaign ever run in Zambia."

Legacy lost an appeal to the government, and its investment into Livingstone will now drop to $50 million from a planned $260 million, Mr. Mushinge says. "Thanks to our environmental guys," he says with a laugh.

Legacy may buy up private land to expand their site. And rampant development continues to threaten the Falls, international observers say.

Still, Mr. Musgrave says he is encouraged that at least in this instance, policy-makers took the long view and concluded that development – in the name of tourism – might actually drive away tourists.

"We need to keep the Falls in the way that Livingstone saw them," Musgrave says. "That's what tourists come to see."

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