"Possible Oil Exploitation in the Greater Virunga landscape: Urgent Appeal to the Presidents of DRC and Uganda", 23 Aug. 2016

...[One] of our major concerns [is] with regard to oil projects planned by both countries in particular related to Ngaji oil Block on the Ugandan side and Bloc V on the DRC side.  Both Blocks cover almost the entire area of ​​Lake Edward which is...a UNESCO World Heritage Site...

Lake Edward is rightly regarded as the heart of the local communities that live mainly on fishing from the Ugandan and Congolese sides. This...cannot be substituted by petroleum operations whose duration is limited and therefore guarantying no future for host communities... Moreover, the unfortunate experience of oil exploitation in developing countries evidenced that local communities remained poor...

[We] urge both countries to:

• Take a firm commitment not to permit any mining or oil concessions/licenses throughout the entire Lake Edward and Greater Virunga Landscape;
• Promote cross-border fishery policies that promotes industry sustainability...[and] promote tourism
• ...[Prevent] illicit trafficking in endangered species and trade in illicit minerals;

Thus, we encourage their Excellencies; to consider and respect the people’s voices to cancel and stop the licensing  of oil blocks (Block V and Nganji Block …) located respectively in DRC’s Virunga National Park landscape and Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park landscape...

[signed by representatives of Ugandan and Congolese NGOs including Dickens Kamugisha, AFIEGO; Fidel Bafilemba, Groupe d’Appui à la Traçabilité et la Transparence dans la Gestion des Ressources Naturelles - GATT-RN; Florence Sitwaminya, CREDDHO]