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Virunga Park: Oil drilling rights to be auctioned off in critically endangered rainforest region


In a statement, the Ministry of Hydrocarbons said 27 blocks of oil and 3 blocks of gas will be auctioned, up from the 16 blocks the country had initially pledged in May.

The blocks include access to Virunga National Park, an endangered mountain gorilla reserve in eastern Congo.

Didier Budimbu, the country’s Minister of Hydrocarbons on Tuesday said oil extraction would benefit the Congolese people.

“The president, Felix Tshisekedi, has a vision and he wants to lift his population out of poverty,” Budimbu told a news conference.

Six Virunga park rangers killed in ambush in eastern Congo

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The DRC has more than 27 million people, including more than 3 million children, who do not have enough food to feed themselves – a third of the country’s population – and more than 5 million internally displaced people, according to the Council. Norwegian Refugees.

A petition, signed by more than 100,000 people, calls on President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to end the development of new oil and gas fields in the country, according to a news release from Greenpeace USA.

“Just six months after signing a $500 million forest protection agreement at COP26, the Congolese government is working on it,” said Irene Wabiwa Betoko, International Project Manager on Forests in the Congo Basin, Africa Greenpeace. declare war on our planet with oil and gas. “The immediate price will be paid by Congolese communities, who are unaware of the auction, not advised or informed of the risks to their health and livelihoods. Many of them will against it – and we will stand with them.”

Budimbu pushed back against auction critics who say NGOs cannot dictate how a sovereign state is led.


The choice we made is to give to the poorest people trying to improve their lives through their economy, so 100,000 signatures is fine but there are Congolese people who need to eat,” said Budimbu speak.

Virunga National Park is located on forested volcanoes in central Africa and is home to more than half of the global mountain gorilla population.

Virunga National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Africa’s most biodiverse reserve.

It is made up of peatlands and carbon-rich primary forest, which, when logged, releases large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, contributing to the climate crisis. Deforestation also removes an important “sponge” for absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere.

The expansion of oil drilling permits is one of a growing number of examples of increased fossil fuel exploration and use amid the global energy crisis.

The auction is scheduled to take place on July 28 and 29.

CNN’s Angela Dewan contributed to this report.



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