UN Urges Congo To Ban Gorilla Park Oil Drilling

UN Urges Congo To Ban Gorilla Park Oil Drilling

The United Nations' cultural agency, UNESCO has appealed to Congolese President, Joseph Kabila, to guarantee there will be no oil exploration in the forest home of rare gorillas where two UK-listed firms hold drilling rights.

The plea was contained in a letter by UNESCO chief Irina Bokova to President Kabila .

Bokova warned of ‘extremely damaging repercussions' of oil activity and asked Kabila to ensure no exploration took place in the park, which is also home to chimpanzees, lions, elephants, and migratory birds so rare it has special wetland status.

SOCO International and Dominion Petroleum were awarded a presidential decree to Block 5 of east Congo 's Albertine Graben in June.

Plans for a seismic survey include exploding dynamite, despite the fact that the rebel-heavy area overlaps with the protected Virunga National Park .

Local environmentalists had argued that any exploration would be contrary to Congo 's own laws.

The Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) told Environment Minister, Jose Endundo, that Congolese legislation does not authorise mineral and petrol production in national parks.

It noted that SOCO's environmental impact assessment , required by law, made no reference to the park's status as a protected zone.

Government to preserve park

Endundo, however, played down the concerns saying that the government would do everything to preserve the park.

He also said that the Congolese people also have to benefit from the riches under the soil.

Endundo noted that if oil activities were excluded from the park, he might seek compensation along the lines of a pact signed by Ecuador in August, under which the Andean nation expects payments from rich nations in return for not drilling for oil in a wildlife reserve in the Yasuni National Park .

Operator SOCO, which has 38.25 percent of the block and Dominion, with 46.75 percent, said in July that they would start seismic exploration this year with a view to production after three years.

Company maps showed that drilling would take place throughout the park and the companies have sent in teams.

REUTERS/Williams/Yinka