Environment-Pakistan: Oil TNC Let Loose on Wildlife Park
8/23/99
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Title: Environment-Pakistan: Oil TNC Let Loose on Wildlife Park
Source: InterPress Service
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: August 23, 1999
Byline: Muddassir Rizvi
ISLAMABAD, Aug 23 (IPS) - Despite stiff opposition from environmental
groups, the Sharif government is going ahead with plans to allow
propsecting for oil and gas in Pakistan's oldest national wildlife
park.
Located 150 kms northeast of the port city of Karachi, the
ecologically sensitive Kirthar National Park is home to several rare
or threatened animal species including the Sindh Ibex, Urial sheep
and the chinkara gazelle.
Kirthar which falls in souther Singh province, is the country's first
environmentally protected area and listed with the United Nations
since 1974 but that apparently weighs little with the government's
planners.
''We have invited bids from consultants for an environmental impact
assessment (EIA) in the park and hope to begin work would be started
by the end of this year,'' commented an official of the federal
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources.
The controversy first came up in July 1997 when the Nawaz Sharif
government opened the 25-year-old park to prospectors, and invited
British Premier Oil to search for an estimated three trillion cubic
feet of gas believed trapped in the porous rock.
In 1998, Premier Oil and Shell formed a joint-venture company
registered in the Netherlands called Kirthar Development B.V. which
is now in charge of the natural gas explorations in the park.
However, stiff resistance ensured that the project remained dormant
till now. The Sindh Wildlife Department had turned down earlier
requests for an EIA in the park by Premier's local consultant, Hagler
Bailly, Pakistan Inc, calling it illegal under Sindh's provincial
environment protection laws.
But in May, the Sindh government and the environmental groups,
including World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) reached a compromise under
which it was agreed that an independent assessment of the park would
be conducted with a view to looking into the ecological concerns and
management issues at Kirthir.
The Sindh Governor also formed a committee, which included the WWF
and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) to supervise this independent
study.
Environmental groups say the government has backtracked on promises
of conducting an independent assessment of the park.
''We are extremely concerned about the recent decision by the Sindh
governor's committee on Kirthar National Park to carry out an EIA of
oil and gas exploration in the park,''said a press statement issued
by the Islamabad-based Sustainable Development Policy Institute
(SDPI).
''We regret that this decision undermines the very objectives of the
committee which was formed to look into the ecological concerns
raised by us in the context of prospecting in the national park and
in fact totally disregards them,'' the statement said.
The Institute represents an informal alliance of environmental groups
formed to oppose the exploration in the park which includes the IUCN,
WWF, Sungi Development Foundation, Pakistan Institute of Labour
Education and Research, CREED Alliance and others.
''The exploration license should be rescinded and prospecting should
be disallowed. Instead the provincial government should call for an
in-depth study to assess the park's ecological and social status as a
protected area,'' the statement said.
In particular, the alliance wanted the objective of the study
oriented towards better management of the park and not surreptitious
clearance for prospecting activity.
Nafisa Shah, SDPI's advocacy Officer, said that any mining or
exploration in the park is illegal according to the provisions of the
Sindh Wildlife Ordinance (Amendment) Act 1993.
''Any activity that may legitimize something illegal is also not
permissible by the law. Legal opinion substantiates our claim,'' she
said.
The IUCN has also quit the Sindh Governor's Committee and
communicated its decision to the government saying it could not
become party to the destruction of the national park.
On the other hand, although the WWF is vehemently opposing the plan,
it has opted to stay on as a member of the controversial committee.
Environmental groups say that EIA is not a neutral study but is
subjective and relates to the project in question.
''We urge the government to recall its decision forthwith, and
instead call for a neutral and comprehensive biodiversity study to
assess the ecological status of the park before even considering
EIA......'' a WWF spokespersons said.
A high official of the Petroleum Ministry, however, rejected the
environmentalists' fears. ''We are committed to protecting the
environment and have not so far authorised any oil and gas
exploration in the park as it will depend on the outcome of EIA study
and that must first be approved by the federal and provincial EPAs,''
he said.
He said the WWF was present at the meeting of Sindh Governor's
Committee held on July 24 this year where it was decided that an
independent consultant would be hired to conduct the EIA.
''However, in view of the position taken by the WWF, the companies
concerned have approached the government to re-consider the matter,''
the official said.
On the other hand, off-the-record contacts with officials of Premier
Shell, Pakistan suggest that the company is looking forward to
starting the seismic survey inside the park as soon as the EIA is
completed - possibly within four months.
The company would employ the safest means like pot-shot technology to
conduct the seismic survey and if it decided to go into exploration,
the physical installations would be built outside the park area so
that there is none or minimum damage to the environment, they said.
A recent paper by the SDPI says exploration for oil and gas in an
ecologically sensitive area will also violate the country's
international commitments to protect biodiversity made under the
Convention on Biological Diversity and other conventions.
(END/IPS/mr/rdr/99)