Virunga: drilling for oil in gorilla country?
Oil exploration would jeopardize Virunga’s gorillas.
The beauty of Lake Edward is unique: its banks are lined with lush rainforest, and the volcano range of Virunga National Park rises from the lowlands. But the home of the mountain gorillas in Congo is under threat by SOCO International, an oil company that intends to drill there. Please call on SOCO to cancel its project.
News and updates Call to actionTo: Ed Story, President and Chief Executive Officer of SOCO International plc, London, UK
“SOCO International must cancel its project to explore for oil in Congo’s Virunga National Park.”
“Recognizing Opportunity” is the cynical tagline of the British corporation’s project to explore for oil in Congo’s Virunga National Park, the home of the mountain gorillas. International criticism of the project has fallen on deaf ears.
On its website, the company downplays the dangers involved in the development of oil resources in Congo. As SOCO sees it, the local population is a part of the problem: it considers the most significant threats to be “pervasive poverty and human living conditions that provide a stimulus for threats including civil and cross-border conflicts, poaching and bush meat trade, deforestation, farming, and illegal fishing and grazing.” The oil company, of course, casts itself in a noble light, underscoring the fact that it had installed a communications mast, thus providing cell phone coverage in the village of Nyakakoma.
In a complaint to the OECD, the WWF accuses security forces acting on behalf of SOCO of creating an “atmosphere of fear and intimidation”. In addition, the corporation has failed to inform local residents of the potential dangers and is ignoring Virunga National Park’s status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The OECD intends to review the case, since companies based in the organization’s member states must uphold high social and environmental standards.
Virunga National Park’s dense mountain rainforest is one of the last habitats of the endangered mountain gorillas. The UNESCO World Heritage Site extends along Lake Edward.
Rainforest Rescue is not alone in opposing oil exploration in Virunga: numerous groups around the world have spoken out against it. Together, we intend to protect the park.
Please call on the CEO of SOCO to cancel the project.
BackgroundWhile the British SOCO International remains determined to explore for oil in Virunga National Park, French energy giant Total dropped its plans in mid-2013 – a partial success for those fighting for the park and its mountain gorillas.
More than 65,000 people signed our petition in December 2012 calling for an immediate end to all oil exploration at Lake Edward and in Virunga National Park. We also raised €15,000 in donations for the management of the park.
Ephrem Balole of the Virunga National Park administration warned at the time that the start of oil drilling would amount to the end of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and the gorillas.
In late 2011, SOCO was awarded an oil license for several blocks of eastern Congo. Until then, drilling for oil in the sensitive rainforest ecosystems had been prohibited. 60 percent of SOCO’s Block 5 project area is within the boundaries of Virunga National Park. “The oil company got authorization to explore for oil in the area by presidential decree. Fortunately, there is a conservation law that prohibits extractive activity in the park,” Balole explained.
To: Ed Story, President and Chief Executive Officer of SOCO International plc, London, UK
Dear Mr Story,
Your company is presently planning to explore for oil in Congo’s Virunga National Park, despite the serious threats to the human population and environment that this would entail. Past experience has shown that extracting oil in sensitive ecosystems almost invariably leads to serious environmental damage.
The OECD is currently reviewing the practices of your company for compliance with its standards.
Please avoid a condemnation by the OECD and the attendant damage to your company's reputation by canceling your project in Block V of the Virunga National Park.
Sincerely,
Recent successes