In response to April protests in Washington, D.C., the bank said it would incorporate greater environmental considerations into its development projects. Approximately four square miles of forest would be affected by the central African pipeline, Calderisi said. To compensate for the loss of tropical forest, two national parks will be created in Cameroon and managed for better biodiversity. The original plan has been modified 40 times to avoid areas of high biodiversity and sensitivity to cultural heritage. It is quite deliberate that most of the pipeline will pass through existing roads and railways.
Environmentalists paint a different picture.
The International advisory group that the World Bank has appointed to monitor the project does not have the capacity to deal with social and environmental problems. There are too many questions unanswered. Oil spills are a significant risk, he noted. A British University has predicted that Cameroon's natural resources generate 1.6 billion per year. The country could easily suffer a net loss from the project.