Eritrea's Coastal Marine and Island Biodiversity Conservation Project

A Proclamation to Promote the Development of Mineral Resources: (Proclamation No. 68/1995)
Regulations on Mining Operations: (Legal Notice No. 19/95)
These legislations are generally intended to regulate mining activities. They are widely applicable both in the terrestrial and marine environment. As
per article 18, all mining operations in Eritrea require permission from the licensing authority of the Ministry of Energy and Mines. Besides, with the
exception of petroleum operations mining license can be given for under sea mineral operations.
The Department of Mines has the vested responsibility to ensure the conservation and sustainable development of mineral resources. When the
competent authority permits mining, it has three operational procedures to protect the environment; (a) presenting EIA (b) assuring intended
methodology and technology has no or only little impact of damage to the environment and (c) license holder shall take all environmental protection
measures consummate to his operations.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines is granted with the power of identifying areas as reserved or excluded for mining. Article 6 of the proclamations
states ‘the Government may designate any area or mineral as reserved or excluded for particular mining operations and exclude any area from mining
operations particularly as it regards sites of historical, cultural or religious interests and public buildings, infrastructure and other installations.’
Legal Notice No. 19/95 further restates that it should not be even within 100 meters of these places (art. 13).
Together with the Ministry of Fisheries, it has vested power to declare protected or preserved area on Eritrean marine environment. Nonetheless, both
agencies fail to present any mechanism of coordination between their jurisdiction (this comment is also valid for the ministries of Agriculture, Tourism
and the Directorate of Cultural Heritage).
3.10. Petroleum Exploration and Environmental Issues
Petroleum operations of the country lie under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Energy and Mines. The Minister is authorized to direct the
implementation of proclamations, and has the power of controlling the operations.
A Revised Proclamation to Govern Petroleum Operations: (Proclamation No. 108/2000)
Revised Regulations on Petroleum Operations: (Legal Notice No. 45/2000)
Environmental protection measures are treated as part of the whole operation. Article 2 (10) of Proclamation No.108/2000 includes ‘environmental
protection’ in the context of ‘petroleum operations’. Unlike legislations of other sectors environmental damage has been defined explicitly in under
Article 2 of Legal Notice No. 45/2000 as: ‘inter alia, soil erosion, removal of vegetation, destruction of wild life and marine organisms, pollution of
ground water, pollution on surface water, land or sea contamination, air pollution, bush fire, disruption to natural drainage and damage to
State of the Coast Eritrea, 2006-2007 18