#SaveOkavangoDelta Open Letter!
By: Fff Digital Team
Tags: Climate Change, Africa, Activism, Letters, Environment

#SaveOkavangoDelta Open Letter!

Okavango Delta, courtesy of tourradar.com

We, a coalition of concerned Namibians, Batswana and global citizens, wish to stop the proposed oil and petroleum explorations and the possibility of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in Kavango East and West and neighbouring Botswana by the Canadian company Reconnaissance Africa (RECON AFRICA).

Namibia was the first country to include environmental protections in the Constitution. Namibia, Canada and Botswana have signed the Paris Climate Agreement. Namibia already draws financial resources from the Green Climate Fund to compensate for climate related changes. Allowing more oil drilling and fracking will only cause the compensation needed higher. Namibia is also a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

In spite of these international obligations and commitments, the Namibian Government has granted a petroleum-prospecting licence for oil and gas explorations to a Canadian registered junior oil and gas company, RECON AFRICA. They bought the rights from Namibia and Botswana to drill more than 35 000 km2 in the environmentally sensitive Okavango basin. Fracking in the Okavango Delta violated every treaty that Namibia and Canada have ever signed.

History shows us that oil and gas companies are driven by economic incentives with little care about the long-term impacts or how they undermine the climate and human development goals. What is particularly concerning to us is that the marketing material of Recon Africa makes implicit reference to fracking — e.g. “unconventional play”, “unconventional methods”, etc. These are industry codes for fracking. And while the EIA makes no mention of fracking, key players in the management team and board of Recon Africa are linked to fracking in the US and beyond. We know what they are after.

The park within the exploration site has received enormous donor funds from foreign governments and donor organisations. The prospecting area in Namibia and Botswana borders three National Parks; the Okavango River and the Panhandle supplies water to the unique OKAVANGO DELTA, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The prospecting area also overlaps with another UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tsodilo Hills, revered amongst the First Nations San community who live nearby in one of their last refuges.

What we have heard from the Namibian government, Recon Africa and the EIA practitioner is that these oil and gas explorations will bring social development, jobs and opportunities to the country. Experiences from elsewhere in the world paint a different picture. The proposed resource distribution smacks of neo-colonialism. It is clear that the people of Namibia and Botswana will not benefit here, instead it will be millionaire CEOs in Canada.

It is absolutely shocking how little the Namibian public knows about this huge project and the impacts it will have. We have spoken to affected parties across Kavango East and West including those living near the drill sites. None of them including resident San peoples had been consulted before the start of this project. If this was legal, they wouldn’t have had to hide it.

We are deeply concerned about the anticipated and historically documented impacts of oil and gas explorations in environmentally sensitive ecosystems:

• depletion and pollution of restricted water resources (surface and aquifer)

• drilling onshore requires clearing the area of vegetation thus causing deforestation and desertification

• rising noise level rises from drilling (and potentially fracking), which impact people and wildlife

• poaching may increase

• air pollution which leads to health issues

• seismic activities including earthquakes may persist long after drilling

There are extensive negative and long-term impacts to the environment, indigenous communities, and the tourism industry. Where there is oil, there is unrest! Keep the oil in the ground.

To the Namibian, Batswana and Canadian and US Governments: We would appreciate a public response that clearly lays out how the government will protect our environment, people, wildlife, water resources, archaeological sites, farms and protected areas.

As we have seen a lack of action from governments, we have decided to raise money to become major stakeholders in the Delta, and make sure to keep it safe and governed by its people. We will communicate the details of the fundraiser as soon as it is set up. Your contribution will be very much appreciated. We have thousands of people signing petitions and striking this dumpster fire of a project.

Silencing us would speak for itself! #frackrot

Yours faithfully,

Members of Frack Free Namibia

Supported by:

~Fridays For Future Digital

~Climate Strike Canada

~Extinction Rebellion Africa groups.

# SavetheOkavangoDelta