By Roxanne Reid
The Botswana government has sold rights to frack for shale gas in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, one of Africa's largest protected conservation zones. Do you love the Kgalagadi as much as I do? Are you as outraged by this as I am? Read on to find out how we can work together to stop fracking in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in Botswana.
The Botswana government has sold rights to frack for shale gas in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, one of Africa's largest protected conservation zones. Do you love the Kgalagadi as much as I do? Are you as outraged by this as I am? Read on to find out how we can work together to stop fracking in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in Botswana.
The Botswana government has granted licenses to UK company Karoo Energy. Now you can add your voice to a petition targeting President Ian Khama of Botswana, Karoo Energy CEO Noel Lyons and non-executive director James Negaard. The petition declares that these licences were granted 'in secret without disclosing any information about the potential drilling licenses to Park Officials or Wildlife Scientists, both of whom are terribly concerned about the almost certain negative effects that will be felt as a result of fracking for shale gas'.
Fracking, as most of you will know, is the process of drilling and injecting water and chemicals into the ground at a high pressure to fracture shale rocks and release natural gas. For every job fracking creates, the petition continues, 'an estimated 1-8 million gallons of fresh water are used. Every well can be fracked approx 18 times. That means hundreds of millions of gallons of water will be wasted in Botswana for every SINGLE well. Botswana is an area that is already desperately affected by limited access to clean water.'
Botswana has admitted to prospecting for oil and gas but said there's currently no fracking going on inside the Kgalagadi - although in the same statement it admits that a renewal application for prospecting after December 2015 is being considered.
Fracking, as most of you will know, is the process of drilling and injecting water and chemicals into the ground at a high pressure to fracture shale rocks and release natural gas. For every job fracking creates, the petition continues, 'an estimated 1-8 million gallons of fresh water are used. Every well can be fracked approx 18 times. That means hundreds of millions of gallons of water will be wasted in Botswana for every SINGLE well. Botswana is an area that is already desperately affected by limited access to clean water.'
Botswana has admitted to prospecting for oil and gas but said there's currently no fracking going on inside the Kgalagadi - although in the same statement it admits that a renewal application for prospecting after December 2015 is being considered.
Read the entire petition here or simply add your name to those who oppose fracking in the Kgalagadi.
If you want the lowdown on exactly what's going on, there's lots of info in the petition, as well as in this article from the Guardian newspaper in the UK. Global Shapers (an initiative of the World Economic Forum) has also written an excellent analysis of how fracking affects national parks and communities and why it should be stopped. You can also stay up to date with developments by joining the STOP fracking our Kalahari Facebook page. [For balance, read the 8 Feb 2016 press release from the Botswana Government in the comments below.]
Let's sum up as simply as we can just 5 reasons why fracking should never be allowed in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.
Let's sum up as simply as we can just 5 reasons why fracking should never be allowed in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.
- Fracking needs water. Botswana will be wasting billions of litres of water, which is the most valuable resource on Earth. In this time of drought, we're just getting an inkling of how bad wasting water could be.
- Animal populations will suffer from habitat loss, water scarcity, water pollution, environmental degradation, soil pollution.
- Human populations will suffer from water scarcity, water pollution, environmental degradation and the host of conditions, disorders, illnesses and diseases that result when water and food supplies are devastated by fracking wells.
- Commercial development in the park will make it much less attractive to visitors, according to scientist Gus Mills, who lived and worked in the Kgalagadi for 18 years. He says it could 'devastate' tourist income. He's also worried about the impact on wildlife in the park.
- The Kgalagadi is one of the largest conservation zones in Africa; let's not open the door to enterprises interested only in making money, without caring about its effects on conservation.
Read the entire petition here or simply add your name to those who oppose fracking in the Kgalagadi.
And of course, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
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