Minister of Tourism and Arts Charles Banda on Wednesday held bilateral talks with United Kingdom’s Natural History Museum Director Sir Michael Dixon and discussed collaboration between the Zambia Government and the Museum on establishing a Natural History Museum in Zambia.
During the meeting, the Minister said the Zambian Government is committed to establish a natural history museum that will research and document the country’s biodiversity.
According to a statement released to the media by Abigail Chaponda, First Secretary Press and Public Relations at Zambia High Commission in the United Kingdom, Hon. Banda said putting up the Museum will enable Zambians to be able to trace where they come from, where they are and where they will be tomorrow adding that the Museum will be a wealth of information that people can always refer to.
He said there was need to preserve Zambia’s history for the benefit of its present and future generations through the establishment of a museum of natural history in Lusaka which will benefit Zambians and the international community.
The Minister said President Edgar Lungu was serious about establishing the Museum saying the project is an important undertaking and is intended to preserve and showcase Zambia’s local nature and natural history collections.
“We are looking to forging new partnerships with different countries, regional cultural, scientific and wildlife that will help us put up a Museum like yours that has been in existence for a longtime. I am here to explore and learn how as a country we can secure a sustainable future for our Museums and preserve the past, present and future of Zambia,” he said.
And Sir Dixon said that the Natural History Museum was happy to work and partner with the Zambian government.
He said the British Government can support important undertakings like the establishing of a Natural History Museum in Zambia.
Sir Dixon said Natural History Museum exists to inspire a feeling of the natural world and give answers to questions that people ask concerning humanity and the planet.
He said the natural history museum is a world-leading science research centre and has a unique collection and unmatched expertise in undertaking issues such as disease eradication, the environment and managing resource scarcity.
The Minister also toured the Museum and had an opportunity to see Zambia’s prized fossil – the skull of Broken Hill Man. The skull was discovered in Broken Hill (now Kabwe) on June 17, 1921. The skull of Broken Hill Man, also referred to as Homo heidelbergensis, belonged to an adult male and may be between 200,000 and 300,000 years old.
The Minister is currently in the United Kingdom to attend the illegal wildlife trade (IWT) conference hosted by the UK government from 11 to 12 October 2018.
The illegal wildlife trade is an urgent global issue, threatening some of the world’s most iconic species with extinction, damaging sustainable economic growth and the livelihoods of vulnerable people in rural communities. It’s worth up to £17 billion per year and is the fourth most lucrative transnational crime after drugs, weapons and human trafficking.
The 2018 London conference is an opportunity for global leaders to build on previous efforts, address the underlying issues that facilitate the IWT, and make steps to tackle this criminal trade.
Good idea may be Zambia can also put the skeletons of bad leaders there instead of marble mausoleums at Embassy Park. It’ll save money too.
Bring Broken Hill Man home!
When you hear “committed” there is a plan to borrow money from somewhere for the commitment to materialize. No plan.
The American Museum of Natural History is my choice. It is necessary to explore a couple of museums of natural history before replicating the one found in the UK. Please take time to impose the UK museum of natural history on the country. The project is excellent. However, it needs debate and brainstorming. There is need for inclusion of stakeholders. The return of Broken Hill man is a long term project due to lack of basic infrastructure and budget for running costs.
Please place this museum close to south luangwa national park in the area where many of the relics originate.
Our former “Finance Minister” Chikwanda can be placed there too. After BANKRUPTING Zambia TWICE he deserves a place of honour. This old FOSSIL needs to be remembered by future generations as the reason they will spend their lives in POVERTY paying off the kaloba he BORROWED and Lungu and company wasted, stole and squandered and they have to PAY BACK!
The works done by Dr. Francis Musonda on the Broken hill man relic which is in London is epic. you can access it from: **** google _Decolonising_the_Broken_Hill_Skull_Cultural_Loss_and_a_Pathway_to_Zambian_Archaeological_Sovereignty****