This rapid technical review assesses the “Updated Environmental Impact Assessment Report for
2100 MW Power Generation from the Rufiji Hydropower Project in Selous Game Reserve, Pwani and
Morogoro regions, Tanzania” of 18 October 2018 (“the EIA”) that relates to a planned hydropower
project to be built at Stiegler’s Gorge in the north of Selous Game Reserve (“the Project”). The
Project will involve construction of a 130m high dam on the Rufiji river, creation of a 100km long,
c.914km2 reservoir plus a power plant, a transmission line, workers camps and access roads.
The c. 50,000km2 Selous Game Reserve (SGR) is an IUCN category IV protected area. It has been a
natural World Heritage Site since 1982 but has been on the List of World Heritage in Danger since
2014 due to intensive poaching. In 2018, the threat from the Project was added to the justification
for the continued inclusion of SGR on the List of World Heritage in Danger
