Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA)

The Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) is a public interest environmental law organization based in Harare, Zimbabwe which seeks to promote environmental justice, sustainable and equitable use of natural resources, democracy and good governance, transparency and accountability in the natural resources and environment sector. ZELA’s work is mainly anchored on a core group of rights which are reflective of natural resources governance, namely Environmental, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (EESCR). ZELA’s vision is for communities and citizens benefiting from just, equitable and sustainable natural resources governance in Southern Africa. ZELA’s mission is to promote sustainable natural resources management and the protection of marginalised communities and citizens of Southern Africa’s environment.  

To achieve its mission, ZELA uses various strategies which include legal and policy advocacy, investigative and evidence-based research, litigation, community training and capacity building and conflict resolution. ZELA has over the years conducted research and advocacy on some of the strategies, policies, legal and institutional frameworks that have shaped the resources nationalism agenda in Zimbabwe. Under this broad theme of resource nationalism, ZELA has analysed such issues as the Community Share Ownership Schemes CSOTs, Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act, Zimbabwe Minerals Revenue Transparency Initiative, Monetary Policy Statements as well as key legal and policies reforms that continue to shape the governance of the extractive sector in Zimbabwe. ZELA undertakes research through its arm the Africa Institute of Environmental Law (AIEL). AIEL’s mandate is to generate credible, analytical and evidence-based information to enhance decision making in natural resources governance using quality, relevance, diversity and sustainability as its navigational markers. AIEL’s core deliverables include such products as journal papers, research papers, education programmes in the areas of environmental law and natural resource governance, policy analysis and capacity building aimed at policymakers in natural resource governance and environmental law. 

For more information, please visit:  http://www.zela.org/ and @zela_infor