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Mozambique plans to turn old ammo depot into nature reserve

In this photo taken Wednesday Oct. 7, 2015 a rat sniffs for explosives while being watched by its handler at the former military depot at Malhazine, a densely populated neighborhood in the Mozambican capital of Maputo. A non-governmental group called APOPO Anti-Personnel Landmines Detection Product Development has trained rats to use their powerful sense of smell to detect TNT. The rats were used to help in demining operations in Mozambique and are now searching for old ammunition left over from accidental explosions at Malhazine that killed more than 100 people in 2007. (AP Photo/Ilec Vilanculo)
In this photo taken Wednesday Oct. 7, 2015 a rat sniffs for explosives while being watched by its handler at the former military depot at Malhazine, a densely populated neighborhood in the Mozambican capital of Maputo. A non-governmental group called APOPO Anti-Personnel Landmines Detection Product Development has trained rats to use their powerful sense of smell to detect TNT. The rats were used to help in demining operations in Mozambique and are now searching for old ammunition left over from accidental explosions at Malhazine that killed more than 100 people in 2007. (AP Photo/Ilec Vilanculo)

By Associated Press 4 min read

MAPUTO, Mozambique (AP) – Craters lie where concrete bunkers once stood, testament to the powerful explosions that occurred when a Mozambican ammunition depot accidentally blew up in 2007, killing more than 100 people.

Now work is underway to transform a site littered with old rockets, grenades and shells into a nature reserve with museums, restaurants and a children’s playground.

Last month, Mozambique said it had removed all known land mines with the help of the United Nations and international demining groups, ending a massive project that began after its civil war ended more than two decades ago. Yet demining teams are still removing ammunition remnants at the former military depot in Malhazine, a densely populated neighborhood on the edge of Maputo, the capital.

Much of it is considered harmless, but some military explosives there have degraded fuzes, making them a particular menace because they are unstable.

The plan to create a weekend getaway for families out of a no-go zone symbolizes Mozambique’s peaceful aspirations after conflict that started in the 1960s with the war against Portuguese colonizers and ended with a 1992 peace deal in Rome between rival Mozambican factions whose divisions still sometimes spill into violence. Mozambique was also haunted by civilian casualties from old land mines long after fighting ceased.