oxmox 73 Posted March 18, 2015 Democratic Republic of Congo wants to open up Virunga national park to oil exploration DRC government to consult Unesco to ‘explore judiciously’ in Africa’s most biodiverse park and a world heritage site Famous for its mountain gorillas, among the last ones on the planet, Virunga is home to dozens of endangered species, mainly found in and around Lake Edward, the area where Soco has been exploring. According to the Unesco convention, the exploration and exploitation of oil is incompatible with the world heritage site status. To allow drilling for oil wells legally, the government will have to declassify parts of the park, or Virunga as a whole. “It would not be a minor modification of the park limits. It would be a major modification that would impair the universal value of the park,†said Leila Maziz The Democratic Republic of Congo’s prime minister has said that his government wants to find a way to explore for oil in the Virunga national park, a Unesco world heritage site , and will engage in negotiations with the UN body to “explore judiciouslyâ€. In 2007, the Congolese ministry of hydrocarbons awarded two oil concessions straddling Virunga’s boundaries to the French major Total, as well as Soco International, a British oil company registered on the London Stock Exchange. While Total quickly agreed to never explore within the current limits of the park – even in the event of a boundaries change – Soco has carried out exploratory activities in Virunga, concluding a seismic study in July 2014. In February, the Church of England threatened to sell its £3m share in Soco, over concerns relating to the company’s behaviour in DRC. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/16/democratic-republic-of-congo-wants-to-explore-for-oil-in-virunga-national-park#img-3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mistyronin 1181 Posted March 18, 2015 Those are quite old news, but in any case I suggest those who are interested to watch the Netflix Documentary about it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
orcinus 121 Posted March 18, 2015 Bugger, I thought SoCo had backed down. Greedy pigf*****s. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
