#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.

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ALL SIGNATORIES

Latest Signatures
25,997 Louise De Bruin Game Rangers Association of Africa Jan 30, 2023
25,996 Natalie Leonard Jan 30, 2023
25,995 Daniella Notarianni Jan 30, 2023
25,994 Teresa Carlino Jan 30, 2023
25,993 Anne Sofie Hammerich Jan 30, 2023
25,992 Jacopo Martino Jan 30, 2023
25,991 Mattia Longobardi None Jan 30, 2023
25,990 Vittorio Ricci Salutation* Jan 30, 2023
25,989 Emanuele Biggi International League of Conservation Photographers ILCP Jan 30, 2023
25,988 Francesca Grandi Jan 30, 2023
25,987 Alexa Cipollone Jan 22, 2023
25,986 Rosalind Stewart Jan 07, 2023
25,985 Eydís Björk Einarsdóttir Jan 02, 2023
25,984 Brad McDonough Dec 24, 2022
25,983 Kevin Robinson UK Green Party Nov 13, 2022
25,982 Tom Marsden Metallurgical Consultant Nov 11, 2022
25,981 Greg Marsden Nov 10, 2022
25,980 Grant Marsden Nov 10, 2022
25,979 Margarete Delettre Nov 07, 2022
25,978 Jane Jackson Nov 01, 2022
25,977 ML Njie Equal justice unification Oct 30, 2022
25,976 Lisa Carey None Oct 28, 2022
25,975 Kayla Taylor Oct 28, 2022
25,974 Christine Mora Oct 14, 2022
25,973 Erin Whiteley Oct 13, 2022
25,972 Josiah Webb "JAW" Oct 06, 2022
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
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Image Credits
Cover Photo: Frans Lanting
Carousel: The Women’s Leadership Centre, Windhoek; Cory Richards

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