#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. 

Check out new investigative reporting on this issue in Rolling Stone and National Geographic.

Click here to support Okavango activists in Namibia and Botswana.

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

Share with Friends

We’ve created a social toolkit for you to spread the word about protecting the Okavango.

GET IT NOW
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ALL SIGNATORIES

Latest Signatures
26,662 Angie Rizzo Lehigh University Sep 22, 2023
26,661 Leonardo De Lorenzo WWF Sep 21, 2023
26,660 Candace Bagley Sep 19, 2023
26,659 Rani Sarvaiya Sep 17, 2023
26,658 Jonas MBIKA ADRIC (Association pour le development Sep 11, 2023
26,657 Theodore LaMontagne Self Sep 09, 2023
26,656 Gina Robertson Sep 01, 2023
26,655 Michelle Wruck Aug 28, 2023
26,654 Nonzenzele Ifeanyichukura Aug 26, 2023
26,653 Christoph Brade Aug 10, 2023
26,652 Jill Snape Jul 28, 2023
26,651 Alison Hackney Jul 13, 2023
26,650 Kimberly Kozakiewicz Jul 12, 2023
26,649 Gareth Gransaull Ivey Business School Jul 11, 2023
26,648 Terry O’Leary Jul 09, 2023
26,647 Sue-Ellen Smith Jul 09, 2023
26,646 Ricki Coughlan Aussie Wild Nature Discovery Jul 09, 2023
26,645 Marloes Selten Jul 08, 2023
26,644 Catalina Ares Jul 08, 2023
26,643 Cody Brewer Brewer Jul 07, 2023
26,642 paula vera Jul 07, 2023
26,641 Valerie Wallace Jul 07, 2023
26,640 Megan Wallace Jul 07, 2023
26,639 Katharina Hellmann Jul 07, 2023
26,638 Carmen Bellido Aragones Jul 07, 2023
26,637 Anselm Guise Rewild Things Jul 07, 2023
26,636 Peter Richardson Jul 07, 2023
26,635 Donna Rustigian Jul 07, 2023
26,634 Patrick Kunc Jul 06, 2023
26,633 Kenneth Skoglund Kolonin Jul 06, 2023
26,632 Glenn and Debbie Carson Jul 02, 2023
26,631 Monica Brandariz Jun 30, 2023
26,630 Jenny Llacer Jun 28, 2023
26,629 Kuburat Odushola Jun 25, 2023
26,628 Nicolai Pere Ngài Tipu Jun 21, 2023
26,627 Stella Calahasen Jun 19, 2023
26,626 Danielle Kitaoka Jun 07, 2023
26,625 Debbi Jaffey Jun 03, 2023
26,624 Laura Tissing Jun 02, 2023
26,623 Gerald Kuchling Chelonia Enterprises Jun 02, 2023
26,622 Marieke Dailey May 30, 2023
26,621 Karen Kelleher May 28, 2023
26,620 JOAO SILVA JPBT LDA May 22, 2023
26,619 Paul Stanislas Ferndown Properties May 21, 2023
26,618 Wendy Rae Johnson Elwha legacy forests coalition May 17, 2023
26,617 Fiona Bryant May 15, 2023
26,616 Kaarina Tuhkalainen May 14, 2023
26,615 colleen kebonyemodisa Charing Cross Hospital May 14, 2023
26,614 Amanda Croft May 14, 2023
26,613 Shanna Keown May 13, 2023
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Image Credits
Cover Photo: Frans Lanting
Carousel: The Women’s Leadership Centre, Windhoek; Cory Richards

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