PTWC Special Report Series. Part 1: What is the West Coast?
In the first part of our series from the recent Protect the West Coast (PTWC) Special Report ‘The Tipping Point’, we look at the natural environment and people of the West Coast and delve into its geography, ecology and social fabric. Renowned for its stark but beautiful landscapes and vulnerable fauna and flora, the region faces imminent threats by unethical mining and government exploitation. Fragile and vulnerable, the interdependent elements of nature and humankind are ancient and unique, and they require protection before they are lost.
Mega Green Hydrogen Project Under Fire
One of the largest chemical projects ever planned for South Africa has been applied for inland from Langebaan on the West Coast. Phelan Green Group plans to produce vast quantities of synthetic aviation fuel for the European market with a Green Hydrogen and eSAF Plant powered by a 3,000 hectare solar farm, despite large-scale opposition by a number of organisations, including Protect the West Coast.
PTWC Legal Team: Our Appeals Reveal Disturbing Patterns
The legal and science team at Protect the West Coast (PTWC) have had a busy year scrutinising a deluge of over 60 new mining applications and Environmental Authorisations (EAs) across the West Coast and Northern Cape. As an Interested and Affected Party (I&AP), PTWC has submitted 25 sets of comments on questionable applications on legal and scientific grounds. We’ve also submitted seven appeals against Environmental Authorisations (EAs) granted by the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR), which have revealed some disturbing trends in the approval process by the sector’s so-called ‘competent authority’.