Petition: Stop Oil Field Harming People and Wildlife in Africa

On June 16, 2021, Senator Patrick Leahy (VT-D) and Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-R) sent a letter to government officials calling for the investigation into an oil project that could threaten the lives of over 100,000 elephants in Africa. Leahy and Fortenberry’s letter cited National Geographic’s coverage of the oil drilling project, writing, “We believe the concerns raised by National Geographic warrant careful attention by the United States government.”

ReconAfrica is a Canadian oil company that is currently trying to secure the permits for a 13,200 square-mile oil field in Namibia and Botswana. Citizens, activists, and officials have voiced their concern over these plans and the harm that the project could cause to the animals, people, and ecosystem as a whole.

Drilling for oil requires a huge amount of water – a precious resource in the region. Plus, oil development often can lead to spills and leaks, which could also contaminate local water sources that people and animals in the region rely on. This is especially concerning since the region that they want to drill in includes the Okavango Delta, which “is a UNESCO-protected World Heritage site” that “supports more than a million people and bountiful wildlife,” including “the world’s largest remaining population of endangered savanna elephants.”

There are only around 450,000 of these elephants left in the wild and 130,000 of them reside in said region. This oil project, and all of the construction, vibrations, loud noises, and disturbances that come with it, will push the elephants away from this region. As a result, they will become vulnerable to poachers, human conflict, and starvation.

In order to protect our planet and those who live on it, there needs to be a shift to clean, renewable energy resources. Big oil companies can’t be allowed to continue to start new, dangerous projects like ReconAfrica’s proposed oil exploration. Sign this petition to ask that Namibia and Botswana protect these elephants, the lands of their people, and the entire world by putting an end to ReconAfrica’s oilfield plans!

To continue speaking up, sign these other petitions as well:

• Urge the Ecuadorian Government to Clean Up Oil Spill
• Don’t Let Fossil Fuel Companies Pollute Indigenous People’s Land
• Stop Oil Spills Before They Start
• Don’t Let Mining Companies Destroy Sacred Site for Indigenous Tribes

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