The Okavango River Basin is in danger. Permits have been granted to a Canadian fossil fuel company, ReconAfrica, which plans to build new oil and gas fields in the Okavango wilderness region of Namibia and Botswana. The license permits drilling and potentially fracking over a 13,200-square-mile area that includes land adjacent to protected areas in Namibia’s Kavango regions and the Okavango Delta (the world's largest inland delta) in Botswana.
The drilling areas are critical habitat to African wildlife. For example, there are more African Wild Dogs within the drilling permit's boundary than anywhere else throughout their range. This land is also critical to migration routes of Endangered Savanna Elephants. Noise from oil development and drilling has been shown to disrupt the behavior of elephants, birds, and other species.
The region is also home to the Okavango mud turtle (Pelusios bechuanicus). The fossil fuel exploration and drilling will occur across the southern part of this species' range, affecting populations that depend on the clear, slow moving backwaters of the Okavango Delta.
Local leaders and activists are accusing the company of moving forward without consulting the impacted communities and doing the bare minimum to assess environmental impacts. To learn more, please check out our parter's at re:wild and their campaign to #SaveTheOkavango. Click here to learn more and consider adding your name to the open letter (along with notable signatories like Prince Harry) demanding this project be stopped.
