This approximately 7,000-square-mile wetland lies east and southeast of ReconAfrica’s licensed area. Specific steps are taken that are part of our plans and verified by environmental auditors and technical specialists. But are we prepared to take that risk?”, Perhaps of most immediate concern to local communities is ReconAfrica’s opacity. Reader support keeps our work free. After examining ReconAfrica’s September 2019 investor proposal describing drilling, possible fracking, and the digging of hundreds of wells in the area, she said that “either the Namibian government didn’t read the fine print or it is in denial as to what it signed off on.”. Even many who live in the affected region were unaware. The Kavango Basin, which spans northeastern Namibia and northwestern Botswana, is part of the Kalahari Desert. All donations made between now and May 31 will be matched. Some hope ReconAfrica may fix the long dirt road to Kawe, the site of a test drilling well. Oil and gas discoveries like the Eagle Ford Basin helped make the United States the largest oil and gas producer in the world, but have also created massive problems, according to … ReconAfrica’s drilling areas overlap with a multicountry conservation park, six locally managed wildlife reserves, and one UNESCO World Heritage site (and could affect another, the Okavango Delta, nearby). Oil and gas discoveries like the Eagle Ford Basin helped make the United States the largest oil and gas producer in the world, but have also created massive problems, according to … Namibians allege ReconAfrica disposed of wastewater unsafely, without permits, and ignored concerns about potential impact of oil drilling on water and wildlife. This story was originally published by Yale Environment 360 and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. It’s also home to 20 other species listed as “vulnerable,” including Temminck’s pangolin and the martial eagle. Scot Evans, ReconAfrica’s CEO, is a former Halliburton vice president with decades of technical and operational experience fracking shale oil in the U.S., and Nick Steinsberger, the senior vice president for drilling and completions, is often referred to as one of the fathers of fracking for his promotion of the use of high-pressure water mixed with chemicals to crack open the rocks. The field is larger than Belgium, with energy news site Oilprice.com predicting it could be the “largest oil play of the decade” if exploration goes ahead in 2021. Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include more information about the role of the environmental assessment practitioner’s responsibilities and statements. ReconAfrica spokesperson Claire Preece noted that “fracking is an oil or gas production method in unconventional reservoirs” in her October 21 reply to questions from National Geographic. An influx of oil workers into this remote landscape—and the money, roads, alcohol, and pollution they’d bring—would jeopardize the traditional way of life of the San, said Jennifer Hays, a professor of social anthropology at the Arctic University of Norway. According to the UN, Namibia cannot feed itself. Some 18,000 of the country’s estimated 130,000 elephants roam the Okavango region, many within the area that ReconAfrica looks to exploit for oil and gas. Here, on the border of Namibia and Botswana, there’s a Permian basin the same size as the Eagle Ford in Texas. He worries that because this area is so geologically active, seismic jolting could disrupt the flow of the Okavango River, the lifeblood of the region’s people and wildlife. “I didn’t know there is some company that will come to drill the oil,” said Jacob Hamutenya, chairperson of George Mukoya Conservancy, which is about 50 miles from one of the test well sites. The experts pointed to the lack of physical assessments of fauna and flora and to the possible effects on local communities and other people, on archaeological sites, and on groundwater and surface water. Experts have pieced it together. The Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage site and biodiversity hot spot in Botswana, is downstream of the region ReconAfrica is exploring for oil and gas. The delta – a World Heritage site recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – is also pivotal to © 1999-2021 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. ReconAfrica bought rights from Namibia and Botswana to drill for oil in more than 35 000 square kilometres of the Okavango Basin. The Okavango Delta, a protected wetland that provides crucial habitat for wildlife, lies about 160 miles downstream of a site in a riverbed where ReconAfrica began test drilling for oil … Namibia’s Environmental Management Act stipulates that an assessment be done “in an objective manner.” Throughout the EIA, Mwiya highlights the benefits of the project, and he encouraged the government to approve it. Canada-based petroleum exploration company ReconAfrica has licensed more than 13,600 square miles of land, about 70 percent in Namibia and the rest in Botswana. But the Namibian government has said that no such license has been issued, and ReconAfrica has since scrubbed any “unconventional” mentions from its literature. Wild animals use the entire region, which is why Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have created the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, or KAZA for short. Promising early results suggest we may have a new tool in the battle against the pernicious mosquito-borne parasite. “What happens if the company drops the groundwater table and people who live there can no longer access the water they have relied upon for generations?”. “Wild dogs are highly sensitive to habitat loss,” she said, “and any development within wild dog range which destroys, degrades, or fragments habitat is likely to be detrimental.”. The Kavango is the poorest region of Namibia, with the unemployment rate reaching nearly 50 percent in Kavango East. Its farms support only about 70 percent of its people, and the lands under ReconAfrica’s drilling license have more than 600 working farms, some irrigated with water from the Okavango River. According to a 2019 investor presentation obtained by National Geographic, the company’s goal is to drill hundreds of wells under a 25-year production license. Bird migration is one of nature’s great wonders. They’ll also produce large volumes of “cuttings”—polluted rock removed from the drill hole. Driving north from the Namibian capital of Windhoek to the Kavango East capital of Rundu, the scenery shifts from rolling hills — green with the heavy, much-needed recent rains in early 2021 — into dusty plains. Will COVID-19 cancel your family reunion? It would become something else, and that something would not include hippos, sitatungas, or African fish eagles," he wrote. Critics say the EIA also did not sufficiently address the impact on the Okavango region’s 18,000 elephants; maintaining migration corridors for the elephants is crucial to both their safety and that of villagers. The Namibian government says it has not given permission for ReconAfrica to frack. What does a COVID-19 outbreak mean for life at Everest’s base camp?

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