WWF Has Major Victory Over Oil Company

An oil and gas company has said it will stop drilling for oil in The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga National Park after receiving intense pressure from the WWF and the United States Government.

Soco International is an energy company with headquartered in London. The company has backed down from beginning exploratory drilling operations in the area.

Virunga Naional Park is the oldest park of its kind on the African continent and has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park serves as home to a wide variety of animal species, the most famous of which is the critically endangered mountain gorilla. The park measures 3000 square miles and was designated a protected area in 1925 in order to provide safety for its gorilla population.

For its part Soco has not promised it will no longer engage in any oil exploration in any other location that has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“The World Heritage Committee has always taken a very clear position that oil and mining exploration and exploitation are incompatible with the World Heritage status of natural sites on the World Heritage List. It is encouraging that this position is now more and more accepted in the oil and mining industry and is also used as a criterion for several large investment banks.” Kishore Rao, director of the World Heritage Centre, said in a statement.

Soco made its decision after the WWF submitted a petition that contained over 750,000 people globally. The campaign also received the support of the U.S. Department of State.

The WWF’s senior director of campaigns Jan Vertefeuille says the fight is still not over and has called on the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to revoke all oil concessions in Virunga.

The revised agreement between the DRC and Soco is widely considered to be a major victory for conservationists who have highlighted the importance of keeping the area’s wildlife and fragile ecosystem protected.

“Virunga has the potential to be worth more than US $1.1 billion annually if developed sustainably, rather than being exploited for possibly damaging oil extraction,” Mr. Vertefeuille said