#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 

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
27,021 Christian Kupsch Jun 06, 2025
27,020 Magdalena Brandstötter Apr 10, 2025
27,019 Adriana Cabral Sep 14, 2024
27,018 Thomasin Kellermann none Sep 04, 2024
27,017 Beverley Biggs Meme Tees: messages of hope Sep 02, 2024
27,016 Cláudia Ribeiro Aug 14, 2024
27,015 Alexandra Gushchina Aug 09, 2024
27,014 Stéphanie Thys Jul 11, 2024
27,013 Kristin Gaspar Jun 29, 2024
27,012 Bohumil Ronald Fiala Charles university Jun 25, 2024
27,011 Kateřina Matoušková Jun 24, 2024
27,010 Lydia Pinchon Citizen Jun 24, 2024
27,009 Peter Mikula Technical University in Munich Jun 24, 2024
27,008 Barbora Olic Freelance Jun 24, 2024
27,007 David Homoláč Charles University/Czech University of LifeSciences Jun 24, 2024
27,006 silvana olivo the wild charm factory Jun 03, 2024
27,005 Kristen Oliner World Wildlife member for 25 years May 22, 2024
27,004 Brian Bertram May 22, 2024
27,003 Nina Schuster May 22, 2024
27,002 Tatiana Cernochova Medvedica s.r.o. May 13, 2024
27,001 Maria Nashapi OPM Apr 27, 2024
27,000 Mirna Nava Apr 24, 2024
26,999 Jean-Marie De Vos Mentz Apr 08, 2024
26,998 Luke Lerotholi Transfrontier Africa Apr 05, 2024
26,997 Han Fonseca Apr 03, 2024
26,996 Marina Patricio N/a Apr 03, 2024
26,995 Deanne Czarnecki Apr 02, 2024
26,994 Andreas Staub Apr 02, 2024
26,993 Ivo Pesev Apr 01, 2024
26,992 Julie Jacob Mar 31, 2024
26,991 Sarah Ames Mar 31, 2024
26,990 Jerrica Russell Mar 31, 2024
26,989 ashley blose Mar 31, 2024
26,988 Marieke Bragt Mar 31, 2024
26,987 Araceli Benassai Mar 31, 2024
26,986 Dalila Magalhaes Mar 30, 2024
26,985 Flavia Cristini Mar 30, 2024
26,984 Sara Cardi Cigoli Mar 30, 2024
26,983 Madlen Boubau Mar 30, 2024
26,982 Niels Laulund Mar 30, 2024
26,981 Val B Mar 30, 2024
26,980 Allan Hobbs MaxLaser Mar 30, 2024
26,979 Laura Ospina Mar 30, 2024
26,978 Sophi Lawrence Mar 30, 2024
26,977 Veronika Lucza Mar 29, 2024
26,976 Roald Arts Mar 29, 2024
26,975 Amy Price Mar 29, 2024
26,974 Megan Cross Mar 29, 2024
26,973 Tarryn Jackson Mar 29, 2024
26,972 Lucie Poláková Mar 29, 2024
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Image Credits
Cover Photo: Frans Lanting
Carousel: The Women’s Leadership Centre, Windhoek; Cory Richards

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