ReconAfrica, a Canadian oil and gas company, has licensed drilling areas in over 34,000sq km of land in parts of northern Namibia and Botswana that overlap with Africa’s Kavango-Zambezi Trans-frontier Conservation Area (KAZA), which includes land in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

A large part of the exploration areas in both Botswana and Namibia falls within the unique Okavango River Basin which flows into the Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the greatest Wetland Area in the World - a true Wonder of the World which supports huge numbers of wild animals including the world’s largest remaining population of endangered savanna elephants, as well as dozens of other endangered or vulnerable species such as rhinos, wild dogs, and pangolins. It is also home to 200,000 people.

ReconAfrica began drilling test wells in Namibia at the end of last year and if the tests are successful, hundreds of wells are expected to be drilled in the area.

The company’s own reports have suggested that the oilfield could potentially generate up to 120 billion barrels of oil, making it one of the largest oil finds for decades.

Criticism of the project has grown sharply recently as details of it have emerged, especially suggestions in company promotions to investors that fracking, which involves blasting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks to extract oil and gas, could be used.

This is a devastating project that will destroy this unique and magnificent place, add massively to the negative effects of climate change and is against everything the majority of the people that live there believe in. 

Please add your signature to this petition to stop the destruction of the Okavango and the magnificent surrounding wilderness.