The Okavango, it is one of the most mythical rivers of Africa, it takes its source in Angola, crosses Namibia then disappears in Botswana, because its delta does not lead to the sea, but to the desert of Kalahari. Listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2014, it is an exceptional natural gem, home to an incredible diversity of animals, elephants, zebras, lions, hippos, hundreds of species of birds, fish and plants too. , a paradise that is today threatened by drills and pipelines.
This is the warning launched by Reinold Mangundu, 25, author of many poems on the river, turned environmental activist, and standing up against the pressure put by oil prospectors to seize the large reserves of gas and oil that conceals the basement of the delta.
Prince Harry and Namibian activist Reinhold Mangundu: “The Okavango River Basin is under siege by ReconAfrica, a Canadian oil company. We believe this would pillage the ecosystem for potential profit. Some things in life are best left undisturbed.” Https: // t .co / bFZgsfNgul
– Geoffrey York (@geoffreyyork) October 14, 2021
Engineers talk about 30 to 120 million barrels potential. Applications for exploration permits were therefore filed with the Namibian Ministry of Agriculture, the Canadian oil company ReconAfrica obtained one, and it began to dig two test wells. Concretely, this means that it built roads, erected derricks, installed drill pipes, and sent mud in the tubes to bring up the oil. All this in front of the helpless inhabitants.
Hence the fight of Reinhold Mangundu, who refuses to let himself be robbed of what made his parents, grandparents and ancestors live for centuries. “There are things in life he said, which it is better not to touch to measure the benefit they bring, and the delta is one of them.“
To alert on the subject, he first organized a demonstration in Windhoek, the Namibian capital. But his sign “No to drilling” did not get the media coverage expected. Without a response from his government, he decided to type higher, to contact stars. And it worked. This week, Prince Harry co-signed a platform with him in the Washington post to demand the end of all exploration projects, receiving the support of actors such as Leonardo Di Caprio and Forest Whitaker.
Result: all the celebrity press found themselves talking about “oil and drilling in Namibia” and highlight the dilemma that Reinhold Mangundu sums up as follows: “Either we preserve our natural heritage, or we exploit it until destruction. The choice is simple. “And it does not arise only in Okavango but in the whole world.