CHINESE OIL EXPLORATION THREATENS GABON'S FLAGSHIP

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIBREVILLE 000585

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/13/2016
TAGS: SENV EFIN EPET PGOV GB
SUBJECT: CHINESE OIL EXPLORATION THREATENS GABON'S FLAGSHIP
NATIONAL PARK

REF: A. LIBREVILLE 495


B. LIBREVILLE 382

Classified By: CDA Katherine Dhanani. Reason: 1.4 (d).


1. (C) Summary: Chinese oil company Sinopec's petroleum
exploration in Gabon's flagship Loango National Park fails to
meet minimal standards for environmental protection.
Sinopec's impunity is just one example of recent GoG failure
to live up to natural resource commitments; Gabon risks
losing GEF and World Bank projects because it has failed to
fulfill conditions. Sinopec is most likely operating with
the approval of President Bongo, whose recent decisions show
him to be a fan of China. Just four years after Bongo
attracted widespread favorable attention when he created the
Gabonese national park system, he may have concluded that
traditional exploitation will better serve Gabon than
protection of the environment and development of ecotourism.
End summary.


2. (SBU) Loango National Park includes the section of
Gabonese coastline where Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
biologist Mike Fay concluded his 1250-mile "Megatransect"
walk through the forest of central Africa in December 2000.
It is also the site of famous National Geographic photos
showing surfing hippos and elephants on the beach. According
to WCS and WWF staff, efforts to protect the Park's
biodiversity and develop tourism are threatened by the
exploration activities of the Chinese oil company Sinopec.
At the time of Chinese President Hu Jintao's State Visits to
Gabon in February 2004, the GoG granted Sinopec exploration
rights for a block that includes most of the Loango National
Park. Sinopec has built roads in the park and begun a
program that will include detonation of 16,000 seismic
explosions along almost 500 miles of seismic transepts. WWF
reports that a recent seismic underwater explosion almost
capsized a boat carrying a group of tourists on the Park's
Iguela Lagoon. NGO staff in the park report some 400-450
Sinopec employees are based at two camps, one just outside
and one inside the Park's boundaries. They also report
observing illegal hunting, fishing and dumping of solid waste
in Loango by Sinopec employees. Although these violations
have been demonstrated to GoG officials, no action has been
taken to suspend Sinopec's activities.


3. (SBU) Gabon's national park system is only four years old.
A definitive law regulating the parks is currently before
the Gabonese Senate; its enactment is anticipated in the next
few months. Under current law, no economic activities (with
the exception of tourism) are permitted within park
boundaries. The new law allows for mining and oil
exploration if an economic impact assessment is approved;
regulations dictate the content of an EIA and the process it
should follow. WWF experts consider the EIA drafted for
Sinopec by a Gabonese consulting firm sorely inadequate, but
note that Sinopec is not even executing the minimal
mitigation measures recommended in the (unapproved)
Assessment, such as limiting the width of seismic transepts
and cutting no trees with diameters above 5 centimeters.


4. (C) The situation in Loango is only one example of recent
GoG failure to live up to natural resource commitments. The
donor community recently sent a joint letter to the Minister
of Forestry, Waters and Fishing explaining that donor
initiatives, including a Global Environmental Facility (GEF)
grant and a World Bank budget support credit, are at risk.
Among the problems identified, in addition to Sinopec's
exploration in Loango, are:
--Failure to withdraw logging permits from concession holders
who don't pay required fees;
--Plans to create a new Forestry Fund outside the normal
budgetary context;
--Lack of transparency and inefficiencies in the dissolution
of the monopoly wood marketing parastatal; and
--Failure to communicate with the donor community concerning
new legislation and regulations governing forestry and
fishing.


5. (C) Comment: Sinopec's immunity from normal regulatory
controls strongly suggests that the company is operating with
the approval of President Bongo. Bongo's current affection
for China reflects his disappointment that traditional
international donors have not done more for Gabon (Ref A).
Bongo also appears to be unhappy with the environmental
community, perhaps because he was oversold on the promise of
economic development through eco-tourism when he set aside

ten percent of Gabon to create the national park system in

2002. Those who care about Gabon's natural heritage fear
that Sinopec's disdain for environmental protection in Loango
is just a preview of what can be expected when infrastructure
is put in place for the development of iron deposits at
Belinga by another Chinese firm (Ref B).
DHANANI