The lush green slopes of Mutare’s Christmas Pass Mountain are fast giving way to raw, exposed earth. Where thick woodland once clung to the hillside, the photos now show fresh gouges of red soil, flattened clearings, and gaping cuts etched into the mountain’s back. The scars are visible even from afar, crawling dangerously close to the telecommunications towers perched above Hillcrest.
What was once a proud natural fortress — guarding the eastern city and welcoming travellers into the valley — now bears the unmistakable fingerprints of illegal mining. The wounds are recent, the soil still loose and pale against the darker forest, as if the mountain itself is bleeding.
Farai Maguwu, director of the Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG), confirmed to ZimEye that miners have been tearing into the Christmas Pass Range.
“Yes, Simba. So, they started mining along Christmas Pass Range, near Hillcrest. So right now they’ve been mining along a stretch. Last week, they were mining there and someone stopped them; and then they took all the equipment and left. So it’s not clear whether they’re coming back. Maybe they will return with adequate paperwork, you never know, but once they’ve started, it seems they will not stop.”
The photographs reveal the story more powerfully than words:
Freshly dug terraces and stripped vegetation leaving the mountain’s surface raw and exposed.
Heaps of spoil earth piled carelessly along the slopes.
Jagged scars of excavation crawling towards the summit and the telecom towers.
U Iconic euphorbia and woodland trees standing as helpless witnesses to the destruction.
Villagers left anxious, fearing landslides, erosion, and silting of local streams.
For those living below the range, the once reassuring outline of Christmas Pass has changed. Its silhouette is no longer just a backdrop to daily life, but a warning sign: if unchecked, the mining could destroy both the environmental balance and the heritage of Mutare’s gateway landmark.
Christmas Pass has long been celebrated as the gateway into Mutare, a landmark whose sweeping views make the descent into the city unforgettable. But conservationists warn that this heritage is now at risk of being irreversibly scarred by the hunger for minerals.
Call to Action: EMA Must Step In
The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) is now under urgent pressure to intervene. Conservationists, community leaders, and residents demand immediate action to halt the destruction before it is too late:
Immediate suspension of all mining activities along the Christmas Pass Range until proper investigations are completed.
Full-scale Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to determine the risks of further excavation on Mutare’s ecology, water systems, and community safety.
Public disclosure of permits and authorisations, if any, that allowed mining in such a sensitive heritage zone.
Accountability for illegal operators, with prosecutions for those found to be mining without clearance.
Restoration and rehabilitation plans to repair the visible scars already inflicted on the mountainside.
Without urgent intervention, Christmas Pass risks becoming another victim of Zimbabwe’s escalating crisis of unregulated mining — its natural beauty and cultural significance erased in the name of profit.Tragic how the government allows this destructionZANU PF is acting like there is no tomorrow, if this report is trueChristmas Pass Mountain’s Under Demolition By Chinese MinersAfter Boterekwa??
