#SAVETHEOKAVANGO

Re:wild is standing with the people of Namibia and Botswana fighting the decision to allow oil exploration in the Okavango. Sign the open letter today.

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We need more biodiversity, not extractives.

We don’t need more oil because we have enough proven reserves to supply demand as the world transitions to a more sustainable low-carbon economy.

Yet, Canadian oil company ReconAfrica has its sights set on the Okavango River Basin—including Namibia’s Kavango regions and Botswana’s Okavango Delta—an ecosystem that supports the livelihood of tens of thousands of people and serves as home to endangered wildlife, from lions and giraffes to African Wild Dogs and the world’s largest remaining population of Endangered Savanna Elephants. The Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage site and Key Biodiversity Area, is also a lifeline to a desert delta and the main source of water for nearly one million people, relying on rivers originating in Angola, flowing through Namibia and emptying into northern Botswana.

  • Local leaders and activists have expressed their concern that the company did not adequately consult the people affected most by oil exploration and drilling in this region.
  • Re:wild and the international conservation community is standing with the people of Namibia and Botswana, activists on the ground and around the world as well as Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, in calling for an immediate moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the Kavango River Basin to stop this irreversible and irresponsible treatment of our planet’s precious resources.
  • Protecting the Okavango from oil and gas drilling is in line with IUCN Resolution 136.
SIGN THE OPEN LETTER

Save the Okavango

We, the undersigned, are part of a growing community that defines progress not as the destruction of our planet to benefit a few, but as the protection of our irreplaceable natural resources to the benefit of all.

We stand in solidarity with the people of the Okavango River Basin in demanding a full moratorium on all oil and gas exploration and development in the Okavango River Basin, which includes the Kavango region of Namibia and is home to the famed Okavango Delta in Botswana.

Local communities in Namibia’s Kavango East and West regions deserve an independent and impartial public commission to examine oil and gas exploration in a way that is transparent, involves extensive consultation with them, and makes clear how this industry would affect their lives, rights, water, food security, and the natural environments of which they are custodians.

We further encourage the governments of Namibia and Botswana to consider sustainable, alternative energy so that they can meet their global climate and biodiversity commitments, while building a green economy that will benefit both countries’ people and wildlife in the long-term.

By signing this letter, we also pledge to use our collective voice to expose irresponsible extractive industry projects that pose a threat to ecosystems and the people who depend on them across the region by bringing sustained local, regional and international attention to them.

The choice is simple–either we preserve the wild and its benefits to humanity, or permanently destroy it through exploitation. We have made our choice by standing with local communities in embracing the former, protecting the irreplaceable Okavango River Basin for generations to come. 

SIGN THE OPEN LETTER

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KEY SIGNATORIES

Prince Harry

The Duke of Sussex

Reinhold Mangundu

Namibian environmental activist

Forest Whitaker

Academy Award winning actor and activist

Nemonte Nenquimo

Waorani Leader, Ceibo Alliance & Amazon Frontlines

Dr. Wes Sechrest

Re:wild

Leonardo DiCaprio

Actor and environmentalist

Djimon Hounsou

Actor and activist 

Michael Chase

Elephants Without Borders, Botswana

Max Muyemburuko

KEW Regional Conservancy and Community Forestry Association

Veruschka Dumeni

Namibian climate and environmental activist

Rinaani Musutua

Economic and Social Justice Trust, Namibia 

Dr. Chris Brown

Namibia Chamber of Environment (Representing 70 NGOs in Namibia)

Joram Useb

Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee

Anita Lekgowa

Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee

Nadia April

Women’s Leadership Centre

Mary Rice

Environmental Investigation Agency

Kweku Mandela

Film producer

Mike Holding

Director, cinematographer, Afriscreen

Dereck Joubert

CEO Great Plains, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence

Frans Lanting

Author and photographer “Okavango: Africa’s Last Eden”

Christine Eckstrom

Editor “Okavango: Africa’s Last Eden”

Colin Bell

Director, Natural Selection Travel

Global Citizen

Eriel Deranger

Indigenous Climate Action

Lourence S. Lirumba

Muduva Nyangana Conservancy

Thomas H. Muronga

Kapinga kaMwalye Conservancy

Eveline N. Kauma

Joseph Mbambangandu Conservancy

Johanes M. Sivava

Mbeyo Community Forest

Gervatius Mukuve

Ambrosius Haingura Community Forest

Kleopas Shaningwa

Katope Community Forest

Raymond Kafene

Maurusi Nekaro Conservancy

Stephanes Kudumo

Ambrosius Haingura Conservancy

Ellen DeGeneres

Entertainer and someone who cares
#SAVETHEOKAVANGO

MORE TO DISCOVER

Explore the Okavango

Meet the iconic species and characteristics of this region–and the people who rely on it.

READ MORE

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ALL SIGNATORIES

Latest Signatures
25,971 Lindsey Newman Sep 28, 2022
25,970 Sara-hee Laursen Sep 24, 2022
25,969 Nicolas Olivares Sep 23, 2022
25,968 Jamie Moser Sep 23, 2022
25,967 Leilju Aišlinn Global Citizen Sep 20, 2022
25,966 Julia Schade Sep 14, 2022
25,965 Nancy Fellmann Sep 11, 2022
25,964 Marshella putriana Saru None Sep 10, 2022
25,963 Daniel Hotz Ecological Restoration Fund Sep 07, 2022
25,962 Clare Kennedy Sep 07, 2022
25,961 Naelle Joao okavango.rewild.org Aug 29, 2022
25,960 Carmen L Aug 14, 2022
25,959 Thaïs Poirier Aug 12, 2022
25,958 Tania Anderson Private Aug 12, 2022
25,957 Darcy Hitchcock Aug 07, 2022
25,956 Cassandra Wuerthele Jul 29, 2022
25,955 Paul Stanislas Ferndown Property Management Jul 25, 2022
25,954 Lori Johnson Jul 23, 2022
25,953 Thibault Van Thillo Jul 22, 2022
25,952 Cari Rollins Jul 21, 2022
25,951 Yael Plat NaturaCultura Jul 13, 2022
25,950 Michal Mizrachi Jul 12, 2022
25,949 Erin Tsui Jul 10, 2022
25,948 Mairead Ni Chuirc Religious Sisters of Charity Jul 06, 2022
25,947 Lia Beveridge Jul 04, 2022
25,946 Nikki Arya Jul 03, 2022
25,945 Pamela Schau University of California- Berkeley Haas Jul 03, 2022
25,944 Craig Thomas Jul 02, 2022
25,943 LAURENCE BIBBY Jul 02, 2022
25,942 jeff hopkins Jul 02, 2022
25,941 Nancy Henderson-James Jun 29, 2022
25,940 Marie-Antoinette Micheli Ambrosiam Jun 28, 2022
25,939 Fredericke WF Brakweh Jun 28, 2022
25,938 Denise Amestoy Me Jun 27, 2022
25,937 Lindsay Gobeli Jun 26, 2022
25,936 Valerie McNair LM Transport LLC Jun 26, 2022
25,935 Cynthia Cascante Re Wild Jun 26, 2022
25,934 Alison Clayton Jun 26, 2022
25,933 Heather Pansegrouw Jun 26, 2022
25,932 Melanie Lutz Jun 25, 2022
25,931 Logan Von Der Hellen Jun 25, 2022
25,930 Boitumelo Madisa N/A Jun 24, 2022
25,929 Veronica Clayton Jun 23, 2022
25,928 Stefanie Gastrow Jun 19, 2022
25,927 Maxwell Wang Jun 19, 2022
25,926 Beatrice Muggetti Jun 18, 2022
25,925 Lacy Sigman Self Jun 16, 2022
25,924 Siva Ranganath Meenakshi Jun 13, 2022
25,923 Danna Guillen Jun 12, 2022
25,922 דפנה סדקוביץ Jun 12, 2022
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Image Credits
Cover Photo: Frans Lanting
Carousel: The Women’s Leadership Centre, Windhoek; Cory Richards

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